My friend said that she wishes she had an “OWNERS MANUAL” for her husband.
I laughed, but then I thought about it more. There IS an owners manual for her husband, and she could do the work to CREATE it.
We all have an “owners manual”- that document that tells us what’s going on internally with our engine. That document that tells us what’s really happening when some bell or light goes on that we don’t like to hear or see. There’s a why; a reason it’s happening. The owner’s manual tells us information about that, and gives us ideas on what to do.
What if we all paid attention to our own “owners manual”? What if we made mental (or written!) notes in the owner’s manual of those closest to us? How would our lives improve?
When we’re feeling angry, upset, sad, anxious, tired, stressed, or overwhelmed- there is usually a reason. Often times, we ignore these warning signs until it’s too late. Many times, it takes someone having a mental breakdown or developing an ACTUAL illness or health problem for them to realize that they’ve been moving too fast, going at life too hard, and they need time to rest and recover.
Often times, we get “pinched” or “triggered” and we don’t even slow down or stop to consider WHY. We don’t check in with ourselves and uncover the REAL reason that we’re feeling so bothered. Maybe our REAL source of frustration or anger is actually fear. Maybe we’re having a painful memory of something that has happened to us in the past. Maybe it’s something that happened as far back as childhood.
If we don’t consult our owner’s manual, we’ll never know. Then, we won’t be as easily able to reset, recover, heal, and solve the problem in a meaningful way.
What’s on YOUR owner’s manual? What’s on your spouse’s owner’s manual? Do you know?
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