Monday, September 27, 2010

Cyleina Organic Soaps - Top Beauty Secrets - Revealed

Having a beautiful, smooth, soft, young-looking and healthy skin shall never be difficult and expensive with Cyleina Organic Soaps. With these beauty secrets and regimens, it has always been so much fun and very affordable.

I personally use Cyleina organic soaps as I am not that much blessed with a silky smooth, cotton-soft, and flawless skin.
Working a lot and for more than a decade, it has given me much stress, which I perfectly know has damaged and affected my skin.

When I realized that I needed to work on with my skin and had to find and venture in many different ways just to keep a glowing skin, I started researching. From one web page to another, from one forum or online discussion to the next, as well as from various blogs I have read, I tried different skin care products. Some of them worked somehow; some worked better; thus, some never worked at all.

Despite my experiences, I still continued to find those products that would suit me best. Finally, I have come across Cyleina Organic Skin Care Products. And honestly, I was so amazed and happy with the kind of results it has given me since day 1.

And to reiterate, I will forever be a Cyleina Organic Soap user. I love it and today, I can perfectly tell you that I do love myself more - enjoying beauty confidence at its best. Yes, I know I am beautiful in my own extraordinary ways. And of course, I am beautiful in my hubby's eyes. Right, dad? =)

Now, I am one of their authorized RESELLERS and have finally started sharing the good news to everyone - my fellow lovely women! Beauty is confidence - 100% guaranteed! :)

You can check our Cyleina Organic Soaps on our blogs and in Facebook. See you there!

eieo  on a cupFor inquiries, questions and orders,please feel free to send me an email at oursilverspoonshop@gmail.com

Contact us at these numbers: (Sun) 0932-72855-44 or (Globe) 0915-8718721
Order yours today and see great results! Enjoy!

See us at FaceBook. Add us up and be amazed how affordable and reasonable our prices are.


Happy Shopping :-) With us, Beauty is Fun!

♥♥♥ Mai Raine ♥♥♥

Saturday, September 25, 2010

GOD Bless Every Home

Our tests of faith: the fire and the typhoon Ondoy incidents (May and October 2009 respectively).

Hubby and I have a very big clan and we love them all.

The Love of a Family is Life's Greatest Blessing! - Ondoy's 1st year. Still, we are thankful and grateful to HIM that we have THREE F's --->Family, Friends and Faith.


It has been a year and now I can certainly say that we have finally recovered - blessed, loved and inspired. These two traumatic incidents have taught us to be strong and to always hold on to each other and of course, to our Source of strength, life and inspiration, our dear Almighty Father. Our trust and faith just gets even better, stronger and mightier each day.

With all these good things and great blessings in life, we ought to make a pledge - not because we need to but because we love to. Yes, hubby and I are both planning to do "something" we think we'd surely love to. And this can perfectly make us happy, proud and fulfilled... we will find your place, Lani - as we both admire your strength and your parent's unconditional love. (we saw them last night on TV @ ABS-CBN, Failon Ngayon.) We will see you soon. GOD bless you always! :-)

♥♥♥ Rainier and Myraine ♥♥♥


FYI:

Sir Ted was my former professor in PUP, 2nd Semester SY 2001-02 - Introduction to Mass Communication. I was the president of the Journalism Class and most of the times, I was his secretary and textmate. Chills and laughs! Kudos, Sir Ted!

Failon Ngayon

Veteran broadcaster Ted Failon brings you stories that will surely leave a mark on every Filipino’s mind and heart as ABS-CBN is a magazine program “Failon Ngayon!” every Saturday at 5:30pm.

Join Ted as he brings the latest news and information as well as extraordinary tales that will give your weekend afternoon viewing a whole new flavor.

The most controversial and most talked about personalities of the week take the hot seat and answer tough questions in “Most JuanTED,” while people get to voice out their opinions as they become the show's "Isyu-sero.” The respected radio commentator also takes his brave commentaries to television in this segment as he critiques politicians, people in the government, as well as in private and local agencies.

From hard hitting news and opinions, Ted gives you a slice of the lighter side of life as he features out-of-the-ordinary stories and the spirit of heroism among Pinoys alongside peculiar stories which will definitely rouse your curiosity and interest.

Above all, “Failon Ngayon!” will be of service to the public as Ted becomes the bridge for citizens to find solution to their problems.

Cheers!


Monday, September 13, 2010

Our Lasting Gift for the Golden Year of the Parish

Let us do our share. Let's join hands in making this noble project possible.

I completely agree with this: “A drop of water, when put together, makes an ocean. A grain of sand, when combined, makes a seashore.”

Please spend a little of your time reading some of the thoughts and words of our dear friend, Jilson.

From his Facebook Photo Album:

In preparation for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on March 7, 2011, we are renovating the interior of the Shrine.

Drawings in this album present the perspective of the replacement of the front and side window panels and doors that will be made from imported tempered glasses. The window framing will also be replaced with powder-coated aluminum to ensure that it will last for a number of years. To maintain these window panels, a ledge will be made on both sides to make them easier also to open and close. This will also improve the ventilation in the Shrine.

The front doors will be replaced with wooden framed glass doors while the side doors will be redesigned with glass panels. The stained glass design in front will be retained and restored (although it is not detailed in the drawing). The chandeliers and ceiling fans will be removed and replaced with modern lighting system to blend with the modern architecture of the church. The cost of this project is P4.4 million.

On behalf of our Parish Priest and Rector, Rev. Msgr. Bartolome G. Santos Jr. the Parish Pastoral Council, and the Committee on the 50th Year of Foundation of the Parish, we appeal to the generous support of our parishioners and Marian devotees to realize this project given only less than six months before March 2011.

We request a monthly pledge of P250.00 or P500.00 or P1,000.00 or any amount from your heart for the next four months. Please contact the Parish Office at 291-5609 for details.

“A drop of water, when put together, makes an ocean. A grain of sand, when combined, makes a seashore.” This is another opportunity where the little each one of us contributes, if acted collectively, will leave another meaningful gift to our Parish Church as we celebrate 50 glorious years as a community.

Very sincerely yours,

MR. JILSON N. TIO
Chairman, Committee on the 50th Year of Foundation of the Parish

♥♥♥ Rainier and Myraine ♥♥♥



Friday, September 10, 2010

I Love Icy Delight Scrambles!

Ice Scramble is so Back!

Every Juan dela Cruz has surely tasted a cup of this yummy, cold treat - iskrambol, ice scrumble or ICE SCRAMBLE. Many, many years ago, this was widely seen along the streets.

Today, Icy Delight Scrambles, Filipino's version of smoothies, has taken its enticing ways and creative efforts to give our all-time fave ice scrambles some new twists. With its variety of yummy and colorful toppings to choose from, you surely could not resist its appealing taste and charm; you could hardly say no.

The return of iskrambol is fun and very exciting; it simply gives every Pinoy the thrill to chill out, relax, unwind and reminisce the good, fun and old days of their childhood years.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a creamy, yummy and addictive cup of ice scramble today and see how Icy Delight Scrambles can satisfy your cravings. Indulge in your most affordable and most delicious cup/s today and reward yourself!

To get great deals from Icy Delight Scrambles and be able to start your own small business even in your own comfort zones, please keep in contact with us and our team would surely be glad to be of service. Ping us now!

For inquiries, questions and other details, please feel free to send me an email at Icy Delight Scrambles and jump start your own Scramble Biz at a very low and most reasonable price.

You may also text or call us at: (Sun) 0932-72855-44 or (Globe) 0915-8718721

See us at FaceBook. Add us up and be amazed how affordable and reasonable our prices are.

♥♥♥ Mai Raine ♥♥♥


Sunday, September 5, 2010

Signs of an Unhappy Marriage - Check Yours Now

Most love marriages start off with great feelings of happiness just like a fairy tale romance, but soon degenerate into something cold and boring, a kind of habit that both partners fall into and soon, the marriage starts showing those inevitable unhappy marriage signs that all married couples dread.

So, what are these signs and how can you notice them and stop them from repairing your marriage until it’s too late?

Unhappy marriage signs are sometimes easy to read, and sometimes, even though they are staring us in the face, we do not see them. Don't let this happen with you. Read on for some possible signs of an unhappy marriage.

Not all marriages are made in heaven. A marriage in order to be a happy one takes a considerable amount of work. There are many signs to an unhappy marriage. I am giving below some of those signs. If either or any of the partners is behaving in such a manner then the chances are that it is an unhappy or failing marriage.

An unhappy marriage is one of the most common marital problems that couples face today. An unhappy marriage leads to several other problems like depression and other psychological disorders. The high rates of divorce are testimony to the fact that the sanctity of marriage as an institution is being diminished day by day. Unhappy marriage signs may begin to manifest at any time. Early during the marriage or late, the important thing is that you realize these unhappy marriage signs and decide for yourself, what step you're going to take further.

Ana Mika shares some ways on how to know that your marriage is in trouble. She has a good post in her site and you may want to pay a visit on her page, too. :-) Happy Reading!

Check out this Article on 12 signs of a failing marriage by Anamika S. If either or any of the partners display these signs then the chances are that it is an unhappy or failing marriage.

Mommy Mai:
Unhappy marriage signs may or may not be the same for all couples. It is only you who can truly realize whether your marriage is happy or not. Don't make any rash decisions based on random relationship advice that you hear from time to time. Identify with it and make sure that you do what you think will make you happier. It is your life after all.

This post is for everyone; my ideas, thoughts and experiences that I do share on this blog aim to somehow lend a hand to make someone out there feel better and be able to reach out to those who are in dilemma or in confusion. If you need someone to talk to, do not hesitate to count me in. I may not help you exactly what you want to; but I can perfectly a good listener and stress reliever. I am just an e-mail away. =) See you!

♥♥♥ Myraine ♥♥♥


Saturday, September 4, 2010

Common Marital Problems - Your Own Checklist

Do a Self-Check Today Before It's Too Late and Be Sorry.

You may seem unaware that you and your better half's marriage is somehow or maybe totally on the rocks. Whether you're so certain or not, you have to make efforts to save it and deal with it at the soonest time possible. Otherwise, it can lead into something that you both never expect or want to happen.

With that in mind, I researched on some issues or conflicts that may occur in marriages and may probably test the love, trust, respect and all between married couples. And I'd like to share them with you. Well, here's my checklist:

Save a Marriage Dot Com:

COMMUNICATION

The most commonly reported relationship problem by far is communication. This may be one of the broadest and most difficult terms to define with regard to relationships. It tends to have many different meanings to each of us. For the purposes of this explanation I define it as "Mis-Understanding".

Literally, this means not understanding the other person's point of view. This is often more a matter of refusing to allow the existence of the other's view as opposed to not understanding it! It is an unwillingness to take the time to genuinely listen and care to understand.

In many relationships the interest seems to lie primarily in getting one's own point of view heard and understood rather than having an interest in hearing and understanding the others’. There is an irony here worth looking at . . . If people cared to listen to the other person with as much interest as he or she wished the other would listen to them, both would end up receiving exactly what they are looking for!

To truly know another, we must be willing to see the world through their eyes, not simply our own. If we listened as well as we spoke, really connecting would take care of itself . . .

SEX AND INTIMACY

This topic is so huge and complex an area that I can only give the briefest of introductions in this format. Sex is one of the most common areas of conflict in many relationships, but make no mistake, it does not stand alone. Ruling out any physical or medical causes of difficulty, it is usually in some way a reflection of whatever state the relationship is in. For instance, if communications have become hostile and withholding (for punishment or defense purposes) that hostility manifests itself sexually as well. Often this is one of the natural outcomes of what I talked about in "Unfulfilled Expectations".

Chronic disappointment and dashed expectations can manifest in a serious loss of intimacy in a relationship. Not being able to identify what the expectations are, no less clear them up, makes matters even worse. If there is a lack of intimacy with regard to the basic friendship in the relationship, it is also expressed (or not!) in some manner in the bedroom.

To further complicate matters, as rule sexual interactions mean something different to men than they do to women. Women like to feel emotionally connected before they become physically connected. Men, on the other hand, often use sexual activity to get connected in the first place. (It's a cruel joke of the universe I think). Ever notice how much more he talks and listens after lovemaking? There's no coincidence there, ladies. And guys, ever notice how much more interested she is in sex after you've offered her some "real listening time" about something she really cares about? No coincidence there either.

The main issue here is that it is a mistake to hold your partner responsible for your needs. Rather, you would do better to look at how desirable you've made yourself to your partner with your own behavior and attitudes.

If your sex life is in need of a tune-up, chances are your relationship needs tuning first.

RESENTMENTS

Resentments are the number one killer of all relationships. They are a slow poison, undermining the love, trust and mutual respect you may have once had with each other. It is critical in the treatment of relationships to uncover these often unknown or unspoken resentments. Each person is then responsible for discovering the part they played in the creation of these resentments along with what they can do to improve themselves. The focus is not on how the other person needs to change, but rather on what you can do to change yourself to bring something better to the party. No blaming, just self-responsibility. It's always a dance of two, never just of one.

Resentments crop up quickly as communication dwindles, expectations are not met and old hurts (many of them from the early years) begin to get "triggered" by relationship issues in the present. This is an incredibly common, yet generally unknown source of pain in marriages. Triggers are current experiences that bear a resemblance to ways in which you've been hurt, abandoned or treated stemming from the past. They are often not consciously connected to what's happening in your present relationship, but when they are shown to you, they are clear to be seen.

An example would be when your partner takes a tone with you that is reminiscent of an important adult from your childhood, who was responsible for creating pain for you. Sometimes we have to think long and hard in order to make these connections. A red flag that this is what's occurring is that you are perceived to be overreacting to whatever is happening in the present . . . sound familiar?

Resentments often build as a direct result of a person's inability to communicate their needs and/or take responsibility for them in the first place. Resentments lead directly to loss of respect for the other person. Loss of respect leads to sexual problems, more bad feelings, blame and distancing. Isn't it fascinating how all these issues just blend together in one massive, connected swirl?

The truth is, we can never really respect ourselves unless we show the courage and the willingness to take full responsibility for what belongs to us, which the other person did not place there! Once the old hurts are neutralized (in addition to all the new ones we've tacked on over the years) and each person has shown the courage to own their part in the poisoned well, much healing is possible.

If you've ever been forgiven for your "falls from grace" in life, you know how powerful a healing experience it is. Much as resentments are poison to a relationship, ownership and mutual forgiveness are its salvation.

INFIDELITY

Talk about a killer of trust and commitment . . . here is the number one offender. My view on this deadly behavior is that this activity occurs as a result of the breakdown of the relationship, rather than being the cause of the breakdown. Do not mistake this as any kind of condoning of this behavior on my part. No way. I simply want to point out that people who are content and fulfilled within the marriage, virtually never look outside of it to fill themselves up. Affairs are often used as a way to lick one's wounds, to escape from the difficulties of the current relationship, to abandon the responsibility we have to work on the troubles in our relationships straight-up, rather than behind closed and secretive doors with someone else. Sorry folks, it doesn't work that way.

If your connection to your partner is missing big pieces, start by looking at what you are bringing to the party. If you're empty and unfulfilled in your relationship, perhaps it's because you are not offering all you could be to it! Looking for comfort elsewhere simply adds more pain and suffering to what was already present. If you are the one who strayed, you have the responsibility for failing to courageously face the part you played in the unsatisfying elements of your relationship. If your own relationship was where you put your energy (rather than with someone else) then your own relationship would have gotten the benefit of your growth, rather than the pain of your broken vows.

Relationships can heal from this most devastating of betrayals, but full responsibility, remorse and true commitment to self-development must be the foundation for the healing. You must be willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild the trust that's been lost. Nothing less will do. Many do not have the courage or character to take this on. If you do, you have the chance to create an even deeper, more meaningful relationship . . . "What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”.

UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS

One of the saddest set-ups in relationships is entering into them with all kinds of expectations and then over the years, feeling disappointed again and again that they have not been met. Part of this issue relates to the childhood baggage I mentioned before. We often have preconceived expectations of what marriage and relationships are supposed to be like.

This can be derived from many different sources, not the least of which is the marriage and relationship of our parents. That's the one we lived and breathed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That kind of exposure gets absorbed, some on a conscious level, some on an unconscious one.

The biggest problem with expectations in general is that we may know what our expectations are, but it unlikely that our partner does! Even more insidious and frustrating is when we have these expectations and even we can't name them, yet we expect our partner to fulfill them. There is one additional problem . . . contrary to popular opinion, it is not the other person's responsibility to fulfill you expectations. It is your job to learn to fill yourself up and then offer all you can to the relationship.

The majority of couples I've worked with have entered into their relationships with their focus on what the other person had to offer . . . not on what they were bringing to the party. Again, we are often quite unaware that this is our mindset.

We must be willing to look closely and honestly at ourselves to see if these are truths about us. Not everyone is willing to do this. To truly understand what you are seeing in another, you must first hold up a mirror and understand what you are seeing there.

Just a piece of advice:

As Socrates once said, 'by all means marry. If you get a good wife you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher'. A bad marriage is not what one expects while planning a wedding. But there are ways of dealing with marital problems like emotional and physical abuse, lack of sex and disloyalty. Deal with issues upfront, instead of burying them in deepest trenches of your heart.

This post is for everyone; my ideas, thoughts and experiences that I do share on this blog aim to somehow lend a hand to make someone out there feel better and be able to reach out to those who are in dilemma or in confusion. If you need someone to talk to, do not hesitate to count me in. I may not help you exactly what you want to; but I can perfectly a good listener and stress reliever. I am just an e-mail away. =) See you!

♥♥♥ Myraine ♥♥♥


Friday, September 3, 2010

Pillows, Blankets & Bedsheets Must Be Shared by Two

Sleeping Together: Resolving Marital Problems, Relieving Stress and Anxiety

A sleep specialist from the University of Michigan, Dr. Beth Malow, has stated that married couples spend nearly one-third of their lives sleeping together.

She encourages married couples to cuddle. Many marriage experts believe that peaceful sleeping together can keep a marriage healthy.

Why Share a Bed?

Why do people share a bed with a spouse if they would sleep better if they didn't? Usually the answer is because even if you don't get the best night's sleep, you find comfort and emotional intimacy in sleeping together.

Sleep Position: Spooning
When you can sleep together, many sleep experts recommend "spooning." This is the sleeping position where people sleep nested together like spoons. This sleeping position is believed to increase intimacy and lower stress.

Sometimes people worry because their spouse is sleeping with their back to them or seems to be far away in the bed. Don't jump to conclusions.

Although sleep positions can be a red flag in a marriage, experts say there is no "good" or "bad" sleep positions in a marriage.

Best Solution: Compromise
So what do you do if you have different sleep preferences? Find ways to compromise. If that doesn't work, be realistic and consider separate bedrooms or twin beds.

Separate bedrooms or twin beds can save your marriage. When couples first start sleeping together, they are willing to sacrifice comfort to be close to their partner. After about five years or so, many people just want to have a good night's sleep again.

Millions of Couples Sleep Together

The truth is, millions of us do share our beds and we do sleep with others and whether we snore or not or whether we prefer the right side of the bed or the left side of the bed. Those things do affect our partners and us. Contrary to popular opinion, there is more to sharing a bed than sexual intimacy - it's a challenging and complicated part of our marriages and one we rarely address. In fact how you and your spouse handle the complicated matter of sharing a bed can actually have a profound effect on the rest of your marriage.

When you go to bed in the evening, many couples spend at least a few minutes reflecting on their day and chatting. That time spent talking in bed may be the only time they spend totally focused on each other in their entire day. Those few minutes of conversation are critical to the overall health of the relationship and since most married couples, myself included, put a high premium on sharing a bed with their spouse - it's important to understand that when you have difficulty sharing the same bed or you go to bed alone and wake up alone - you may be isolating yourself in your marriage.

Sharing Your Bed & Your Life

The benefits of sharing a bed together include:

  • Increased intimacy
  • Pleasurable activity
  • Increased sense of comfort
  • Security in planning and decision making
  • Solving problems together
  • Catching up with each other

Without this time together, it can affect every other part of the couple's relationship. So when one partner snores and it drives the other partner out of the room, it's about more than just the physical act of snoring. Some couples will even forgo regular sleep in favor of maintaining their closeness together. The thing is, when we have trouble sleeping, we get cranky. When we have trouble sleeping together, we get lonely.

Cranky and lonely are two separate feelings, but both of those emotions affect our marriages and us. There's lots of help out there for sleeping problems for individuals, but not a lot about helping the two of you get a good night's sleep together and overcoming the complication of being an early bird versus a night owl versus liking a lot of pillows versus no pillows versus a firm mattress or a soft mattress and the list goes on and on and on.

Learn How to Sleep Together

When you are first married, learning how to sleep together is actually a part of orientating yourself to marriage. It's more than just a life change, it's a change in thinking, feeling and doing. There's no handbook on how to sleep together, we all figure it out for ourselves. It's about our physical and emotional security.

How do you and your spouse handle sleeping together?


Thursday, September 2, 2010

The He and The She of a Marriage

A Must-Know for the Husbands: A Pro-Wife Blog Post (I guess, I’m a Wife after all.)

Appreciation In Married Life
One of the greatest sources of discord in the early days of marriage is associated with lack of what the wife calls "appreciation" in the husband. The average man is a busy person with his share of life's responsibilities and demands upon his time. If he has married the girl he loves and is not of the analytical and hypercritical type, he is generally perfectly satisfied with his life-partner.

Perhaps he omits to tell her so at regular periodic intervals, as if he meant it, and it takes a very clever woman to be satisfied with quiet appreciation without demanding verbal expression of her husband's feelings. Most wives, especially most young wives, delude themselves with the idea that it is the man who talks most about his affection who is the most desirable husband.


The Secret of Married Happiness
They want what they call "appreciation," and the man who gives this to his wife easily, gracefully, and in abundance is wise (and probably admired and dreamed of) in his generation. The converse is also true. It is the appreciative wife who keeps her husband's affection when her hair is turning gray and her figure has lost for all time its girlish outline. It is the wife who can judiciously convey the impression that she appreciates a husband's best qualities who brings out the best in a man.

In one sense, appreciation is the secret of married happiness, because behind this quality lies an immense amount of tact, understanding, and unselfishness. There is no doubt that human nature tends to depreciate what it has already gained, to get accustomed to the possession of what has at one time seemed ideal.

The greatest joy of the newly engaged girl lies in the fact that she is keenly, enthusiastically, and sensitively "appreciated." The man who is honestly in love discerns qualities in a girl which the rest of the World may not perceive, but which are there all the same.


The Divine Spark
Deep down in every one of us there are possibilities, latent qualities for great deeds and high thoughts of which the world has no conception. Love sometimes brings them out, and the commonplace man displays unexpected capacity in consequence. In the same way, the woman who is capable of an absorbing and unselfish love has the best in her brought out at that time.

The divine spark that is in everyone burns brightly for the time being at least. She receives for the first time appreciation from the one person in the world who counts. This appreciation is like a stimulant, an incentive. Alas! so long as human nature is what it is, it does not endure, and if a woman's sense of humor and understanding fails at this juncture, disillusionment will probably result.


It is the wife who is exacting when the ardent lover emerges into the everyday man, who nags her husband into ill-humor. The woman who has a sense of perspective knows only too well that the first ecstasy and ardor of love inevitably settles down into everyday affection, comradeship, and domestic love.

By useless brooding and resentment over the inevitable, discord will arise, and the barque of matrimony will sail into troubled seas. Tact and unselfishness are the only qualities which will steer it safely beyond the rocks, and these include the quality of appreciation.


The Power of Appreciation
The wise wife cultivates the power of appreciating the good qualities her husband possesses and lets him realize that she does. It is the weak woman who nags a man when the first ecstasy of love begins to subside into quiet acceptance and renewed interest in work and everyday affairs.

At the same time, the Woman who has studied the art of appreciation can do almost anything she likes with her life-partner. If he is punctual, orderly, and reliable, she will cultivate the same qualities, and thus save the inevitable jars that the unpunctual woman prepares for herself when she is invariably five minutes too late. She will not ask the impossible from him, and will see that the busy man absorbed in working for her cannot be expected to remember to tell her that his affection is unchanged perhaps three times a day. he man who is apparently not affectionate by nature may hide a capacity for strong love under his silence and undemonstrativeness.

There are men, and these are not invariably the best of their sex, who have the art of pleasing women in little things. Small courtesies, little kindnesses, and thoughtfulness may mean much to the woman who has no absorbing interest to take up her thoughts. She will forgive a great deal in the husband who remembers to inquire for her headache, who plans a treat for Saturday, and brings an occasional bunch of white roses home in the evening.

But there are many types of men, and the wife who has married the undemonstrative type is only making unhappiness in the home when she expects him to display the qualities which are not part of his nature. He may have far deeper and better traits. He may be more faithful, more trustworthy, although he is not naturally sympathetic in trifles and incapable of realizing a woman's point of view.

The great need of most women's lives is affection, and the husband who can give the wife the small tokens of affection, the signs of appreciation, makes life's journey smoother for himself in consequence.


Flattery is not Appreciation
Everybody loves appreciation. Those who realize this fact can get almost anything out of people that they wish. Appreciation is not flattery, which is a less powerful weapon because it is insincere and false in so many instances. Appreciation simply means the power of realizing the good, the kindness, the ability, and capacity in others.

We all know that we work far more for those who appreciate what we do for them. Appreciation brings out better service, finer work from the individual who gets it. Tempered with judicious criticism, it is the most educative factor in daily life. The wife who knows how to appreciate the good qualities can afford gently to criticize and point out where there is room for improvement.

But appreciation requires verbal expression in most instances. The majority of husbands know very well that their wives are unselfish and thoughtful on their behalf. Most wives realize that the average husband is a good-hearted, hard-working individual, anxious to do his best for his wife and their family.

Married Happiness
The woman who wishes to be happy must never allow selfish, depressing thoughts to absorb her. She must cultivate the power of appreciating the good qualities of other people and especially of her nearest and dearest. Petty criticism and resentment of qualities she dislikes brings out not the best but the worst in the husband. In this world we get what we give. If we give kindness and appreciation to others, they somehow come back to us. Particularly, this is also true in married life.

The wise women, the clever women especially, if they have a sense of humor, make the best of their husbands and their marriage. They realize that a little disillusionment comes to every one of us, and that very often it is due to some fault in ourselves. Too many women let themselves drift into a morass of discontent and disappointment simply because they do not appreciate the great amount of good that is in their lives and turn it to account.

Every woman can be happy if she likes, especially if she has a husband and child to work and think for. Happiness, like all the other good things of this life, has to be cultivated and earned. Mutual appreciation is an important factor, and if husbands also would realize what an enormous difference to the happiness of the wife appreciation and small attentions make, a condition of affairs somewhat approaching the ideal would result.


Happy MarriageAfter the first mysterious glamor has worn off, marriage must inevitably descend from the realms of glorified idealism to those of prosaic common-sense; it is merely a change of state. That change of state, however, for always may remain ideal, as ideal as it was when first contracted, but it will not do so if left unaided.
Mankind is frail and mortal, fretful and petty, and these, his characteristic traits, are the bitterest foes of married happiness. But the gift of mutual appreciation is a force - perhaps it is the only force - strong enough to grapple with and overcome these enemies.


Acknowledgment: Chest of Books Dot Com 

Mai: Yes, daddy! I know you perfectly love me. But I still need to hear it sometimes. Let us talk about "us" - reminiscing happy and sweet moments, rekindling wedding vows. I love you.
Though I am so thankful that we're taking it one step at a time - thanks for that sweet date last Wednesday. It's a good start, I should know. =)

♥♥♥ Mommy Mai ♥♥♥