Love & Marriage 48 - Encourage and support your spouse

On this lovely day, I am writing to you about encouragement and support in your marriage.

What does encourage mean? It means to inspire courage. Most of us have areas in our lives in which we feel insecure and lack courage. This often prevents us from accomplishing the positive things that we would like to do. There may be lots of potential within your spouse that your encouragement can unlock. You've got the key to unlock your spouse's potential, talents and dreams. When we receive positive words, we are encouraged to do better, be a better person and to go after our dreams.

When you encourage your spouse it literally places courage in them. When your spouse hears, feel and see your encouragement it will cause him/her to be filled with courage. This is a very powerful tool that you possess and have the power to affect your life and your spouse's life and even change the course of your life. This encouragement should include all areas in your spouse's life, your careers, your sports, your hobbies, your home life, what every spouse contributes in the home.

To encourage and support your spouse says, I know you can do it, I believe in you, I trust you and I am here for you. When you do not support and encourage your partner you can do irreversible damage to your partner's self-esteem. You can suppress all the desire to perform better, to achieve his/her dreams. If you say harsh words and negative words you can trample your spouse's dreams and you are putting him/her down. In doing so you are a stumbling block in your own life and you are preventing your spouse to be better and to try to make a better life for you.

If your spouse if an unrealistic dreamer, I don't suggest that you support him unconditionally and maybe you already lost thousands because he/she jumped into unrealistic business ventures and now he/she can't understand why you are not ready to jump with him/her into the next venture. There are however still ways to be supportive even if your spouse is an unrealistic dreamer.

You can say something like this, "more than anything, I want you to succeed in life, but also I don't want to see you fail again. I am going to be supportive of your new idea, but I insist that we talk with a financial advisor, which can provide us with the necessary information and knowledge up front. Then let's jump together or decide to not jump at all." When you say this, your are expressing your desire to be supportive in the most responsible manner.

When you wife expresses the desire to join a weight-loss program, for instance, don't say, Why don't you just stop eating?. That will be a nonsupportive attitude, that will not only crush her dream but can also hurt your marriage. To encourage and support your spouse will require time, energy, effort and maybe sacrifice on your part. Encouragement and support can often be the difference between success and failure.

All of the above are also applicable to your children, if you are an employer, to your employees. These principles can be applied in all sectors of life.

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https://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/communication-and-conflict/discover-the-joy-of-helping-your-spouse-succeed/encourage-and-support-your-spouse
Sources: https://fiercemarriage.com/the-power-of-encouraging-your-spouse

In the coming week, I will write specifically about encouragement for wives and encouragement for husbands.

Thank you for taking the time to read. I encourage you to not only read but to apply it to your marriage.

@hope777

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