Wednesday, August 15, 2012

What toothpaste can teach us about relationships (yes, toothpaste!)

Let me just tell you a story I remembered while I was brushing my teeth earlier.

I think this story was from a pastor's sermon a loooong time ago, when I was still a teenager. The pastor said that a married couple came to him for counseling. Their marriage was most definitely on the rocks and it was all because of toothpaste. Toothpaste! Husband can't seem to remember to twist the cap back on the tube despite wife's repeated reminders, and the sight of that cap on the sink just tells her that he doesn't pay any attention to her.

So the pastor said all the usual pay-attention-to-your-wife and be-more-patient-with-your-husband advice but clearly that kind of advice just wasn't going to work. So finally the pastor gave up.

A few weeks later, he noticed that the couple were happily chatting. He went up to them to ask how they found a compromise. The couple said, "Oh, we didn't compromise. We found another solution!" Ladies and gentlemen, this saved their marriage:

Any relationship expert will tell you that for a relationship to work, you both have to find a middle ground, to compromise. Well, folks, sometimes there is no such thing as compromise because seriously, how can anyone be happy if no one got what they wanted?

I think that sometimes you have to give in, sometimes he has to give in. There's no such thing as 50-50 in love. It's always 100%! Some things you have to accept will never change and you'll just learn to live with it. Is it so hard? Not really. That's when love comes in! Or, in the case of the flip-top cap, creativity!

For the record, this isn't a sponsored post. We just really use Colgate! Well, Vince is a loyal Colgate guy. Me, I always buy whatever's cool and new! Yes, Vince and I have two tubes of toothpaste since he, ever the OC guy, carefully uses up the tube from bottom to cap. I squeeze it right smack in the middle.

Vince likes the plain, no-nonsense, pasty kind. I like flavors and gels and claims of instant teeth whitening, 24-hour freshness, and other empty promises! So in our case, compromise is never going to happen. And that's okay!

7 comments:

  1. So true! I guess every couple, married or otherwise, has their very own toothpaste/relationship story to tell... Ours? Let's just say my H forgets where he left the toothpaste tube after he's put in some on his brush... I just am thankful that he limits it to somewhere in the kitchen/dining (most of the time). Heehee

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    1. LOL that is super funny! Does he walk around while brushing his teeth?

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  2. Ooohhh. I love this. I'm not married but I guess this applies to a lot of relationships too. My boss used to tell me to try and scrap the mentality of compromising or meeting halfway but instead think of solutions where you can win together. Thanks for this!

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    1. That's true. Compromise never really makes anyone completely happy!

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  3. omg me and my husband have our own toothpaste story too! so we ended up having separate tubes LOL

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  4. Now that I'm in Colgate --- thank you! =)

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