I will Survive!

This week I was lamenting to my husband about how hard it is for people to not view the world as I do. I see things so clearly and people just seem to willfully hold their blinders on. My husband told me that I had tinted glasses on, and everyone has tinted glasses on. Literally one hour later I was reading  Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage by H. Wallace Goddard, Phd and read this:

 "Each of us thinks we see the world directly, as it really is. If others don't agree, it follows either that they have not yet been exposed to the relevant facts or else that they are blinded by their interests and ideologies...Everyone is influenced by ideology and self-interest. Except for me. I see things as they are" (page 71).

 I know that I struggle with humility in several aspects of my life. I had never considered that I have blinders on. I have always known that everyone is a product of their education. It is not their academic education, but their cultural education, that plays the largest role in how people see the world. I have been blessed to be married to a man that has adapted to My personal culture.

Part of my personal culture is loud competition.  This is hard for my husband because he is very low key. He enjoys competition but is just happy to play whether he wins or not. He also wants nothing to do with a spotlight. I like to trash talk and perform much better with an audience. Three years ago there was an open audition for the reality show Survivor, forty five minutes from where I live ( picture below). I got past all the audition points (the background check is insane) and I'm on a list of potential cast members for three more years. If I don't get cast by then I can re-audition. Until then, I like to practice skills that would aid me in winning on Survivor.   My husband and I played a game of what we would do if we were stranded on an island and could only take ten items from the wreckage of our transportation. Narrowing down the list to ten items that we would both agree on was interesting. The only three items that we each picked on our separate lists initially were water, first aid kit, and a knife. Three of the items I put on my list I put because I thought they would be on my husband's list too, they weren't (in case you were wondering what they were, I thought for sure my husband would want an extra change of clothes, toilet paper, and contraceptives. Did that make you laugh? My husband sure thought it was funny). When my husband made his list he didn't even think about what I would take, he just picked everything that had a survival purpose. The best part about combining our lists was that we were both able to sacrifice things on our lists and agree and be satisfied with the final list. We even had one empty space left to bring a gun, which wasn't on either of our lists to begin with.

What are some items that you would be willing to sacrifice for your partner?

(I am the one in the hat with the baby)