connection Archives ⋆ Mike and Susan Dawson

Simple Ways We Supercharge Connection in Our Marriage

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:13:00+00:00Connection|

Susan and I have been married for 39 years! Thank you. Thank you; we’ll hold for the applause! In all seriousness, though, we believe marriage is important. And we think it’s important because God began by the connection of a man and a woman together to fulfill His purpose for this earth and this life. We also believe marriage is the most powerful earthly relationship we can have — we need to be united and connected. To that end, I always ask my couples to tell me their “why.” In other words, what was it that attracted you to your spouse? What were the characteristics about each other that made [...]

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Work Talk vs. Heart Talk: Avoiding Miscommunication In Your Marriage

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:14:49+00:00Communication, Heart|

A husband and his wife are sitting on the couch talking about their day when the wife says, “You wouldn’t believe what my boss did to me today!” She continues explaining her horrible experience, and, wanting to help, he rattles off solution after solution. He thinks that he’s hubby of the year right now, but to his surprise, she gets more upset. “You don’t get it,” she says. “Quit trying to fix things!” Sound familiar? This is a classic case of work talk vs. heart talk. Work talk and heart talk are the two languages we as couples speak. Each is important to ensure great communication in a marriage, but [...]

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News to Me: Respect is More Important Than Communication

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:15:10+00:00Communication|

We all have moments of disagreement, conflict, misunderstanding and lack of communication. If you can dig down and get to the underlying reason for disagreement or conflict many times, it’s about how we didn’t communicate well enough. Our spouse or significant other didn’t really understand and hear what we were trying to tell them. Miscommunication and misunderstanding are often blamed when a couple gets divorced, separated, or even just starts to head down the path to a disconnected and less than satisfying relationship. However, in a recent study of 1500 people who have been happily married for more than 20 years, they cited mutual RESPECT as the reason for their [...]

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Exponential Value in Long Term Relationships

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:17:46+00:00Relationships|

The older I get the more I’m impressed with how long-term relationships enrich my life. This not only applies to my spouse of almost 35 years but many other people who I love and adore. I recently sat around a table with family, some long-term friends and some longer term friends. We were planning a Dawson family celebration and each person brought a unique talent and perspective on what might be fun and meaningful from the history that we had shared over the years. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of gratitude and love for these special people who were once again pouring into the life of our family, [...]

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Turning Towards Your Significant Other

michaeldawsonlpc@gmail.com2024-01-08T01:17:53+00:00Relationships|

Imagine yourself in this scenario. It’s a beautiful Saturday morning. You are at the breakfast table enjoying a leisurely meal. You look out the window and then turn to your partner, “Babe, we should go for a bike ride later. It’s a perfect day!” Does your partner turn to you and respond with? A. “That’s a great idea! I’ll go pump up the bike tires!” B. “It is a beautiful day outside.” C. “A bike ride? Really? I can’t think of anything I’d like to do less.” D. (Keeps reading the paper.) In this scenario did you know that the request to go on a bike ride together is actually [...]

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