30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 14

For Day 14, I tell you about a non-fictional book I'm reading ... The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

It's a book my husband bought for me when we first started dating and I'm just getting around to reading ... three years later! bad, right?! LOL

Anyway, this puts Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus on it's head. 

Here's a bit from chapter one:

"Why is it that so few couples seem to have found the secret to keeping love alive after the wedding? Why is it that a couple can attend a communication workshop, hear wonderful ideas on how to enhance communication, return home, and find themselves totally unable to implement the communication patterns demonstrated?

Finding the answers to these questions is the purpose of this book. It is not that the books and articles published are not helpful. The problem is that we have overlooked one fundamental truth: People speak different love languages.

Most of us grow up learning the language of our parents and siblings, which becomes our primary or native tongue. Later, we may learn additional languages but usually with much more effort. Language differences are part and parcel of human culture.

In an area of love, it is similar. Your emotional love language and the language of your spouse may be as different as Chinese from English. No matter how hard you try to express love in English, if your spouse understands only Chinese, you will never understand how to show love to each other. Being sincere is not enough. (highlight added by me). We must be willing to learn our spouse's primary love language if we are to be effective communicators of love."

I think when you get married it is your responsibility to take care of your partner's needs. That takes commitment, sacrifice and communication. If sometimes you miss the mark - which, let's face it, happens more then we'd like to admit - read this book, it may help fill in the blanks.

Read more here. Just sign in and you'll be able to see more of what's in the book.