View from the Summit

I'll get to that later!

Recently, I took a day off to Kayak down the Caney Fork River with 8 of my buddies. Fishing was pretty lousy, but the company was amazing. What I thought was going to be a trip about fishing and making memories ended up being a trip learning about finding balance in life. It was so great to get caught up with everyone again. The business man in me enjoyed hearing how a couple of my friends made a killing with the recent sale of their companies.

I’m not sure what you said, I only know what I heard.

How many times over the course of a week do you misunderstand your wife? Did you misunderstand or did you just not listen?

Are you so busy you can’t slow down enough to understand what your wife is saying? Are you too quick to accuse your wife of being a “nag” when in reality she is just following up on something you promised you would take care of?

Treat me like your friend, not like your spouse!

One of my favorite episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond is when Robert’s girlfriend calls Debra during a fight with Raymond. Debra’s demeanor suddenly and dramatically changes when she answers the phone. Instead of fuming and arguing, she is instantly laughing and joking with Amy like they just left a party at Cheers.

My wife and I have made a conscience effort to not “freely offer” up advice to our grown kids anytime we see them doing something we would do different.

While we believe our own 30 years of child rearing gives us some insights that could be helpful in different situations, we also know the value in letting our kids come to their own decisions about life and family.