There’s a store rather close to our house and their telephone number differs from ours only by one digit. So it’s not uncommon for us to get calls asking for things from the store. I respond: “Sorry, wrong number.”
Just this morning we got another such call and I replied in the usual way. It set me thinking about how polite I am to strangers, most of the time. They ring up my home at some odd hour of the day and I’m willing to forgive them. They bump my trolley at the supermarket and I accept their apology politely. I accidentally bump in to someone and I apologize. I open doors for the elderly. I let someone who seems to be in a hurry move ahead in a queue (most of the time!). I thank the cashier at the store, the waiter at the restaurant, the security guard who opens the door. I am thoughtful, polite, forgiving and apologetic.
And yet, I asked myself am I the same way with my husband? Do I apologize when I disturb him, do I accept his apology when he’s said something that may have hurt me, do I thank him for the many little and big things he does? Do I do thoughtful things for him? Sadly, I’m not as consistent with him as I am with strangers.
Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted. ~Paul Pearshall
I sometimes take my husband for granted. Do you do that with family too?
Oh my goodness! We are writing essentially the same blog post today! I have also been thinking about the way I show love in my home, and concluding that if I want the people who know me best to love me most (which is entirely counter cultural in this day of virtual friends and “followers”), then I need to show them the same courtesy I show to others.
You are so right, we easily take our most loved ones for granted. Thank you for reminding us
I often apologize to my husband and dare not take him for granted.However, I am guilty of doing this to my son and father. I took my father for granted my entire life and now when he is gone I regret not saying him enough sorry and thank you or even saying I love you. The same is with my son whom I often take for granted but these days I am making conscious efforts to say more sorry, thank you and love you. Beautiful post Cory.
that is such an honest post Corrine. I am mostly polite and courteous to people around me. But sometimes i do feel that I do take my spouse for granted. but i guess its the same other way round too. Guess, we both need to work on that.
Oh yes, we always take our loved ones for granted while we are patient and polite with strangers. Is it because familiarity breeds contempt?? We want to be on our best behaviour with strangers but we dont need to impress our family members, they are familiar with our quirks/nature. So we do what we do… sad and bad though. Thanks for the reminder, Corinne!