The Holiday Season: Marriage Tips (Part 6 of 7)

Greetings. I am using the word holiday by writing about each letter to give your marriage some tips about how to experience this season. I hope you find these tips helpful.
The sixth letter in the word holiday is A for Attitude. Your attitude, both positive and negative, about this holiday season will have an impact not only on you but upon your spouse, children, workplace and family. That is why this topic is so important.

As you know, the holiday season is filled with both old and new movies in which a person is confronted to face this season. Scrooge in the movie ‘A Christmas Carol’ portrays a man who is negative and unhappy about the holidays. His attitude is one in which he states, ‘Oh Bah Humbug.’ The story and movie about Mr. Grinch also has similar negative attitudes about the holiday season as he tries to steal Christmas from the village people.

It is tempting to have a negative attitude towards this season given the marketing of Christmas. Television commercials, music stations, department stores, etc. all seem to emphasis the importance of the holidays starting as early as September. The challenge for your marriage is to find ways to not let the Scrooge or Grinch attitude enter into your heart and perception. We all need to guard or protect our hearts from becoming like the Grinch during this holiday season.

The invitation is to sit down with your spouse and find ways to not have this negative attitude. Share with one another how the two of you are going to protect the marriage and protect your hearts from forming a negative ‘bah humbug’ attitude. Ask one another to share each day how you are protecting your heart from not allowing this negative attitude to penetrate your outlook for the day and for the season. For the sake of the marriage, make sure you have proper expectations and find ways to encourage one another to remain positive, smile by working together to enjoy this holiday season. Don’t just survive but find ways to thrive and be happy.

Thanks for reading.

Phillip Kiehl, LMFT #42351
www.philkiehl.com
Author of “Creating the Healthy Marriage You Want: Stop Accusing & Start Accepting One Another.”
www.booklaunch.io/phillipkiehl/create-healthy-marriage.com