I like this quote from Shel's post, "...amplifying the pleasure of the good situation and contributing to an upward spiral of positive emotion." The concept is how you respond to good news from your spouse.

So much is written about how to resolve conflict but little is written about how to amplify the positive and Shel lists a pretty good way to do it. The next time you spouse has good news go out of your way to respond to it in a positive way. Talk about it, ask them questions, make it clear to them that you are interested in this good news.

Sometimes the only times couples communicate is when there is something negative or a conflict. Since humans are social beings, we look for opportunities to communicate. If the only time a couple communicates is when something is wrong then it is human nature to look for things wrong so that communication will result. You can see the problem with this.

If however you go out of your way to respond positively to good news then you can break this cycle. I'm going to try this.

Good job Shel.

Wesley Hein
Wesley [at] lifetwo [dot] com
Sign up for the LifeTwo Newsletter!