Mindfulness and Marriage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-rockwell-psyd/mindfulness-in-everyday-l_4_b_5788380.html

On an Internet marriage website, blogger Andy Goddard shared that he had read the book Good to Great and learned that the characteristic shared by successful CEOs is humility. The same is true, he thinks, in marriage. “The partners in successful marriages,” he writes, “are both humble, teachable, and willing to learn.

“This willingness to learn may be the secret to a happy marriage: having a broad rather than limited view of a situation, expressing empathy rather than defensiveness, knowing that partnership is less about getting individual needs met, and more about contributing to something greater than oneself — the family. Whether comprising two members or more, family grounds our daily lives, providing the intricate constellation of our existence. And nothing supports a person’s healthy development more than living within an emotionally intelligent family system. As author Daniel Goleman points out, “current trends in marriage and divorce make emotional intelligence more crucial than ever.”