Weekend Kindness
Reaching Others Through Kindness

So you say you love your spouse. Do your attitudes and actions reflect that love?

As one who often struggles with anger, I frequently have to run an attitude check on myself because I tend to use anger as a cover-up for other feelings such as guilt, hurt, and disappointment. I am also prone to anger when I am hungry or tired.

Here’s a prime example of a time when I often succumb to anger:

• My husband walks in the door at the end of the day and is greeted by the children’s mess in the living room, laundry piled on the guest bed, and no supper preparations begun.

At this point, I feel incredibly frustrated and guilty about the state of the house and the fact that I haven’t even begun to make supper. Instead of being honest and communicating to him that I am frustrated with myself, I turn that emotion into anger and impatience. I ask you (and myself), what kind of welcome is that for my poor husband? That’s not a welcome I would want to receive at the end of the long day!

An act of kindness toward my spouse would be to take a deep breath, swallow the angry and impatient words I long to utter, let my husband know that I am feeling guilty over the work that I have failed to accomplish, and determine not to take my frustrations out on him or the girls.

You see, attitude can make all the difference in a relationship. Sometimes, the best way to be kind to a spouse is to give them the gift of a good attitude. I know I will keep working on this area in my life, and I know my dear husband will certainly appreciate having a wife with a better attitude.

How do you refrain from succumbing to a bad attitude?

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