SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

This is a follow up to my last post. I think sometimes, when we are struggling or down, it's harder to see the good anywhere. I'm trying to practice appreciation more in general. Especially on rough days, as I find that practice can help yank me out of my negative mindset and remind me of why I am working so hard at this R journey.

In light of that, I wanted to also post a sentence or two about my spouse, and what I admire or appreciate in him. I invite you to do the same.

I deeply admire my husband's innate generosity, and willingness to devote time to me and our family. If we ever have a problem or need help, I can count on him to drop everything and help.

I also admire his spontaneity, and ability to go-with-the-flow. His flexibility is the perfect counterpart to my need to plan.

I struggle with this. So many of the things I admired about him before are tainted by his As.

It's the same reason it takes me forever to pick out a Valentines Day card for him. They are always over the top and it just stands out to me that the things written in them aren't true for us. It takes a while to find a card that just says Happy VDay and I love you.

I do like and admire that he is finding his own voice. It was part of the problem that led him to the As. He was a doormat and bent over backwards for so many meaningless people. It would sometimes be at the expense of our relationship. It was beyond helping a friend out. I like that he is learning that he has a right to be angry with people and a right to speak his mind.

He's a financial genius. He knows how and when to invest, how to position us for the best deal in big purchases. We were able to save to help four kids pay for half their education without too much sacrifice....

He's a financial genius. He knows how and when to invest, how to position us for the best deal in big purchases. We were able to save to help four kids pay for half their education without too much sacrifice...

He has great work ethic and an innate desire to provide financially for our family.

He loves my daughter just as much as he loves our sons.

He holds me when I cry and never tells me, in words or otherwise, that I'm being irrational and should just get over whatever it is already.

He is appreciative of the things I do for him.

He is smart, funny, kind and athletic, and since the A has become much more introspective. He has started putting his ego aside, and is all-around a thoughtful and caring guy. He laughs at my jokes, and he also has wonderful hands.

He makes me laugh. He is hard working and respected by his superiors and his underlings at the same time. He is good in bed. Sorry if TMI but I do admire and like that. LOL

These are such great qualities--thanks for sharing!

I should have mentioned that my husband also has a great and offbeat sense of humor. We are both incredibly goofy and not afraid of looking silly, which makes a typical day in our household pretty fun.

Jjsr, your last comment made me giggle. Apparently I am five. LOL.

He has a good heart.

He spends quality time with our boys

He is respectful to the elderly

He is willing to look deeply inward

He fought for us even when he was doing it alone's

He knows a lot about so many things, esp other countries....and math. I suck at math!

He is generous with his time and energy, and his love towards me and our sons. He has changed himself 180 degrees, looking inward and repairing the brokenness that brought me here. He is amazingly curious at age 63 (how did that happen?) endlessly optimistic, always humming or singing, and willing to try almost anything.

He is well respected at work and has provided for us for 24 years.....we have never needed for anything.

He loves and cares for his girls.

He can turn anything into a sexual innuendo

I hope to add so much more in the future.

Yet again, another perfect way to head to sleep....positive thinking

I love that my husband refers to my daughter from a prior relationship as "our" daughter.

I love that my husband doesn't tolerate it when my son raises his voice to me.

I love that my husband will almost always come to find me when he comes home from work

I tend to love things that my husband does... rather than a quality about him. I think it's because they are things that he does sometimes... they aren't part of his normal habits... but they do happen more frequently when our relationship is in a good place.

I love it when he:

opens my car door

asks me how my day went

makes my son do his chores

offers to help

does dishes after cooking dinner (he tends to use a lot of dishes)

I admire the way he is willing to look deeply within and acknowledge his weaknesses and work on them.

I admire the way he has thrown himself into R and all that it entails.

I admire his work ethic.

I admire his butt...... oooooh he has the cutest butt! I've been admiring that particular feature since I was 11 years old

I love his sense of humour. This man can make me laugh over the silliest things

WH is thoughful, kind and generous.

He is an incredibly hard worker.

His smile melts me.

He was been willing to work realy hard through some really painful stuff to figure out why he made the decision to cheat,he's owning his behavior 100%, and working really hard to be sure I see the changes he feels in himself.

his effort to really change his mindset from "what she doesn't know wont hurt her" to " it DOES hurt her, think before you act". He has changed many of his bad habits, which is very hard work.

his patience with my many "breakdowns"...he always holds me, does what he can to comfort me, accepts that he caused this pain, owns it, shows true remorse, and sometimes even cries with me.

oh, yeah...(insert girly giggle here) and what jjsr said!

I like that he knows how things work. His brain is wired so differently from mine that it used to bug me but I have grown to understand and appreciate our differences so much more than our similarities. He simply can figure anything out, it's totally amazing.

He is very, very funny. Bad, rotten, funny.

He can be so deeply sweet and thoughtful.

He will totally placate and validate all my crazy ideas; house stuff, decorating, yard ideas. He will play along and make happen everything I see in my mind. He totally up and built me a bench I saw on Pinterest - but of course made improvements on the design, because again, he can figure anything out.

by Rebreather....

but I have grown to understand and appreciate our differences so much more than our similarities

I think this is really impt. and strive for this 100% (as opposed to wherever I am at now....70..ish?)

I also wanted to add that I admired how my H told my parents about the A and then apologized to them as they were used in the process. I know he was scared. I also know I would not want his mom to know if the tables had been reversed. I often wonder if I would have had the wherewitall to do that.

[This message edited by LA44 at 5:59 PM, March 3rd (Monday)]

He is so smart. He knows so many things that I would never think about knowing.

His strength. He shoulders so many burdens willingly.

His work ethic. He is well liked by those above him, his peers and his staff.

He is fun, adventurous, and happy to be silly when the situation calls for it.

His determination.

I agree so much with BtraydWife. The things that I used to admire so much just don't seem to matter any more. I used to admire so many things. I was so proud of her and of all the things she'd done, but it's just not that way anymore.

And when it comes to Valentines' Day or our anniversary, buying a card is the hardest thing ever. I can look at every card in the store, and none are right. Nothing makes me feel like more of a fake myself, than when I try to buy a romantic card when I just don't have those feelings anymore.

His smile, is kindness to all, is family commitment, is arms around me.

His care when I was sick.

i hope to add his faithfulness and commitment to us with more conviction as time goes by..altough I am beginning to see it