Choosing to See The Beautiful

When you look at your spouse, what do you see? Do you see the messes they make and haven’t bothered yet to clean up? Or do you see the tender way in which they take care of your children? Do you let the clothes on the floor get the best of you, or appreciate the hard work they put in every day to make a living and a life together possible? 

Do you let the imperfections that become visible with familiarity and age bother you, or think instead of the wonderful memories you’ve collected from years of sharing a life together? 

I confess I chose to focus on my wife’s faults and small imperfections at times. As I reflect on those times, I let those small irritants become magnified and exaggerated. I wasn’t looking for the good qualities of my wife. I was instead focusing on a small single imperfection like a magnifying glass to the exclusion of her many other virtues. 

Our brains have a remarkable ability to focus on one detail at a time. Our eyes also have that remarkable ability: although the human eye’s 150 million light-sensitive cells can see detail at an incredibly high resolution, it’s only in the center of the eye that can take in detail. What you choose to look at and focus on matters from a biological and relationship perspective.

What you decide to look at and focus on can make or break a marriage. Marriage researcher Dr. John Gottman explained that no matter how much trouble a marriage is in, it can be saved if individuals in the relationship choose to look at their partner with fondness and admiration.

I’m not saying we should all turn a blind eye to the faults and weaknesses of others. We still need to exercise good judgment and make wise decisions in our relationships. How would your marriage be different if you used more of your brain’s emotional processing power on the good & the beautiful rather than the critical & the ugly?

Have you ever made a list of 20 qualities of your spouse you find attractive? Making a list of things you like about him or her will help you cultivate fondness and admiration for each other. There’s an app for that — the Get Your Marriage On! App has a free tool just for this purpose.

Today’s Challenge: Look your lover in the eyes today and make the decision to see the best in them. For bonus points, write them down and share your list with them!

Phone Screens of Intimately Us App

Love this article?

Try this fun and sexy app for your marriage!

intimately us

I love this app! My husband and I are such busy people, this helps us stop and make sure we show the love that we have for each other. I’d give 6 stars if I could!

D & R

This is by far the #1 sex app for Christian couples! My wife and I played the games like 5 times over the last week. Sparks are flying and we’ve never felt so close before. Thank you!

C & L

<h3>Dan Purcell</h3>

Dan Purcell

Dan and his wife Emily Purcell are the founders of Get Your Marriage On! Their marriage went through a bit of a renaissance a few years ago and wanted to share what they learned with other couples. They created a fun & sexy bedroom game app called Intimately Us that has been downloaded over 300,000. They put on events and retreats for couples.Dan is the host of the Get Your Marriage On! podcast. Dan is a Life Coach that coaches other couples and individuals on how to have a great marriage, deeper intimacy, and fulfilling sex life.Dan and Emily have been married for over 18 years and have 6 kids. Dan loves cracking dad jokes, running marathons, planning the next creative date night with his sweetheart, and enjoys the magnificent outdoors around their St George home.

You might also like:

How to Write a Love Letter

How to Write a Love Letter

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate”  - Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 The love letter is arguably the oldest and...

“Spring Cleaning” Your Marriage

“Spring Cleaning” Your Marriage

Spring is coming! This week in my hometown we finally saw the sun, and have been getting rain storms instead of snow. So that’s progress, right? Spring is my...

Finding a Sex Therapist

Finding a Sex Therapist

How do you find a sex therapist? Many couples have periods in their relationship where their sex life is struggling. This can be due to a number of factors,...