Beware of Pride

 Flat Tires in Your Relationship

Every so often I need to be reminded that I am not always right, that I need to check my pride at the door, and that my husband can be right and does have good ideas.  This weeks reading was just the reminder that I needed.  I tend to think that all of my ideas are wonderful and will always work out.  This week we bought a small sectional for our family room.  I knew it would be a tight squeeze and after several times of trying to fit it through the door, I was ready to give up.  My husband suggested we try bringing the couch in through the sliding glass doors.  I knew that would not work because it was the same size as the other door.  I finally just had to leave the room because I was so frustrated.  A few minutes later my youngest daughter came and got me to show me that it had worked.  The sectional was sitting in my family room.  I apologized to my family for getting frustrated.  My husband had a great idea and made it happen.  Now I can see that he does have good ideas and can be right.  

 I appreciate the quote on Goddard's book, "Appreciating is more powerful than correcting.  Appreciation inflates the tires on which we travel.  Criticism is a slow leak in these tires".  This is so true, criticizing someone you love will cause that slow leak, and of you continue, that tire will eventually go flat.  Where will you go fr om there?  As my husband and I read Goddard's book this week, we both recognized that we are causing that slow leak.  We talked about how we were going to work on this.  It is so easy to criticize first and then ask later.  we have decided that before we criticize, we will take the time to hear the "whole" story and try and find appreciation in it.  For example, instead of criticizing my driving, my husband appreciated it very much that he did not have to walk home from the church.  We have a ways to go, but this is our goal.

President Benson said "Pride adversely affects all our relationships-our relationship with God, and His servants, between husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student, and all mankind.  Our degree of pride determines how we treat our God and our brothers and sisters."

As I said before, we need to check our pride at the door, so that we can have that relationship with Heavenly Father, and His servants, with our spouses and our children.  "Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion".