October 1, 2007
by Rod Smith
Reader’s question: My boyfriend says we have to have sex to see if we are sexually compatible before he will continue seeing me. What do you think?
Rod’s answer: What an old, and ridiculous line. Move on! Your boyfriend is what I call a “pp” or “penis propelled.” If you really want to assess sexual compatibility it can be done without removing a single item of clothing!
First: Compare credit reports and financial statements to see how each of you handles money. How you respect, use, and save money, will exert more power over your long-term sexual compatibility than any immediate sexual encounter will indicate. It’s very hard to be passionate, faithful lovers when you are fighting over maxed-out credit cards. Little will challenge your sex life as much as scrambling for money and blaming each other for the poor use of resources.
Second: Compare your attitudes toward and your relationships with your immediate family. You can tell everything worth knowing about a person by how he (or she) respects and appreciates his parents and siblings. People who show little respect for their immediate family, or little desire to care for them, are unlikely to be a successful long-term husbands or wives, no matter how good or passionate they might be in a bedroom.
Third: Assess attitudes toward hard work. A shared, healthy attitude and high regard for hard, honest work, will give both of you useful insight into your long-term compatibility much more effectively than will the immediate experimentation with each other’s bodies.
Posted in Affairs, Attraction, Communication, Difficult Relationships, Victims, Violence, Voice |
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October 1, 2007
by Rod Smith
“My husband’s venting has gotten out of control and I’m considering a divorce. Talking about it yet it ends up in a fight. When I first met him, there were times I had to put down the phone and take a walk. It drained me. I married him, only to find out this venting was a regular thing and I became a target. It’s not what he says but the delivery, the energy behind the words. It’s gotten so bad that I can’t sleep, or concentrate, and I have a hard time being around him. Do I divorce or separate from him?” (Edited)
Get your attention off you husband’s behavior and onto your own. Like many people, you observe the finer details of a partner’s behavior while ignoring your complicity that helped fuel the very behavior you now reject. Why would you marry a man when his pre-marriage behavior was already draining you? Things would be different if you’d made a radical stand the very first time he was inappropriate.
Divorce? Separation? I have no idea. I do know nothing will change – actually they will deteriorate – until you do something radical. You are a target but you have legs! Use them. When he sees you will no longer tolerate his hurtful outrage he might do what it takes to grow up.
Posted in Anger, Betrayal, Differentiation, Sex matters, Trust, Violence, Voice |
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September 24, 2007
by Rod Smith
Axioms (observations that are almost always true) for families:
A man or woman who has an open, friendly, respectful, and playful relationship with his or her own parents will seldom have problems with his or her in-laws.
Extra-marital affairs are symptoms of a troubled marriage and not the cause of trouble in a marriage.
The teenager who is open and friendly and kind to his or her parents is laying the foundation for a happy and open and friendly relationship with his or her future spouse and children.
When children “take over” a family, and become the center or the glue of a marriage, relational carnage (with the marriage and even possibly with the children) waits in the wings.
The couple that engages in sex, but never discusses it, will finally end up discussing (or arguing about) why one or the other partner has lost all interest in sex.
People who can stand up to each other (resist poor treatment; declare what he or she will or will not do; speak up about what he or she really feels) are more likely to have a lasting relationship than people who relent or give in to each other’s wishes in the name of love.
Posted in Affairs, Anger, Attraction, Boundaries, Children, Communication, Domination, Education, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Friendship, High maintenance relationships, Listening, Living together, Long distance relationships, Manipulation |
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August 12, 2007
by Rod Smith
I read your articles from two weeks ago called “Next Time You Fall in Love” with some friends, and we had some interesting discussions. I like most of your thoughts, but sometimes I think that life and love are so much more complex than some steps to follow.
Of course life and love are more complex than following a few steps, but even discussions around a few sound steps are a good place to start! It is more than a lot of people do when it comes to “falling” in love.
Thinking, giving a momentary pause for consideration regarding a healthy process of “falling in love” would be quite novel for some people.
I always hesitate over using the word “falling” when it comes to romantic love, for it suggests a total lack of say or control over oneself when it comes to such matters.
Love is not as irrational as popular “thought,” literature, or culture would have us believe, and any discussions you have had regarding how love romantic operates will equip you to open your eyes to the pitfalls that come with love and all of its mysteries and complexities.
Posted in Attraction, Listening, Love |
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February 1, 2006
by Rod Smith
“My husband and I were happy until the birth of our son when our relationship changed. After our son was born he started cheating, lying, and drinking everyday. We spent less time together than we used to. I thought we were friends, but now it feels like we are distant cousins. Our sex life is boring.”

Take up your life
Your future must seem dull and painfully endless! While I am sorry that you are victim to your husband’s cruel behavior, I am more sorry for your child who is witnessing a marriage he could hardly want to emulate.
Please read David Schnarch’s book entitled Passionate Marriage. I will warn you that it is the very best book on sex and relationships I have ever read. While it is graphically sexual, it is never pornographic. It is to be read as a whole, cover to cover, before judgments are issued on its worth.
The book outlines the journey of couples who have lives as miserable as you describe yours to be, and offers valuable keys for all marriages and relationships.
I have gotten into trouble for recommending this book to couples, not only because it promotes very strong and healthy sex lives, but because it challenges people to live full, complete and adventurous lives.
Posted in Communication, Divorce, Love, Marriage, Sex matters |
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