Puppy Dogs and Men
During a conversation with my wife the other day, Cheri commented that men are just like puppy dogs. Since I’m not fully comfortable being compared to the four-legged animal kingdom, I asked for clarification. She smiled and explained: “Dogs are pleasers. They want their masters to be happy.”
She’s right. I am a pleaser. I don’t like it when my wife is angry with me. I want to make her happy and I don’t like the doghouse. I prefer my wife’s bed, just like my dog.
When we (husband and wife) take the time to talk about important items, we discover we both want the same things. What doesn’t make sense is how often a husband or a wife will act in such a way that elicits the exact opposite reaction needed to accomplish the goal.
This is called collusion. The art of doing the exact opposite of what I want.
We have found the best way to avoid collusion is by having a BOD meeting. The next time you find yourself in collusion with your spouse or child or anyone,
STOP, DROP, and ROLL.
Stop what you are doing. (Discontinue the fight, the discussion, the dialogue.)
Drop your argument completely. (No excuses, no explanations, no blaming.)
Roll the discussion into a BOD meeting to protect yourself from making matters worse. (Put the topic on your agenda and handle it in such a way that gives you the highest probability of working out a win/win scenario.)
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