Friday, August 31, 2012

Three Things I've Learned In Our Marriage...








Someone asked me a while ago to describe three things that I have learned from our marriage.
Two things immediately came to mind, though they are probably not what you might imagine...



think, think, think
Think, think, think!



THE FIRST, I learned in the early months of our marriage.  When I was startled awake one night by a bad leg cramp..
I immediately pointed my toes, as a friend (?!) had taught me to do a few years earlier.







My new husband, also startled awake, immediately reached down and pulled my toes up.  It turns out that
 the worst thing you can do for a leg cramp is to point your toes!  If not for my marriage, I might never have
learned that!  I might still be pointing away in agony night after night..  Well, whenever I have a leg cramp that is.
(Apparently you need to stretch and lengthen the cramping muscle in order to ease it.)








THE SECOND - is every bit as useful...







My husband also taught me that I can clear a blocked nose by sleeping on my side away from the side that is blocked.
That's it.  I had not known that.  But it has been very helpful to me through many stuffy nights since!




My favorite painting by Frederic Lord Leighton, Flaming June. (The (toxic) Oleander branch in the top right, symbolises the fragile link between sleep and death)
'Flaming June' by Frederick Lord Leighton



THE THIRD ..
may as well be 3,000 things that I have learned from marriage,
but the one thing that comes to mind foremost is the importance of Forgiveness.
To be willing to let go, so that moving forward is possible..









My husband taught me that too..  :)



"Forgiveness . . . 
may be the greatest virtue on earth, and certainly the most needed. There is so much of meanness and abuse, 
of intolerance and hatred. There is so great a need for repentance and forgiveness. It is the 
great principle emphasized in all of scripture, both ancient and modern."

President Gordon B. Hinckley



HinckleyGB_95-99_rgb.jpg


3 comments:

  1. I love that the first two are designed to get you more sleep.... definitely below above forgiveness :)

    lol! I'm just kidding :) All three are excellent. Obviously I have to find myself a husband who knows a couple of useful tricks :)

    So glad you two got married (and stayed married), and have set such wonderful example for the rest of us.
    xoxo Tammy

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  2. Lol I love these 3 tips - although I'll have to try and learn something else cause my Mother taught me these ones!!! :) I'm SUPER glad you got married also!!!! :) And I love that first picture :)

    xoxox

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  3. Did I inspire this post? :P
    Those are very helpful things to know! When I was pregnant I often woke up suddenly and in a heap of pain with cramps in my legs. Robbie would be woken up too by my sudden thrashing and his job was to pull my toes back as quickly as possible. For some reason it wasn't as effective when I did it.
    I can't imagine how painful it would be if I were trying to point my toes!!! Eek, ow :S You poor thing Mum. Lucky Dad came along to save you!! :)
    And the forgiveness point is very good :)

    You and Dad are wonderful, wonderful examples to us! Thank you :)

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