The New York Times, Fashion & Style – “Those aren’t Fighting Words, Dear.” – Laura A. Munson
“Happiness has to start from within.” Easy to say, DIFFICULT to implement.
Impressed by how Laura Munson tenaciously applied this well-worn quip in her marriage, I wanted to share her NYT article, “Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear.”
When her husband randomly announced he no longer loved her (maybe never did) and was leaving, “I’d recently committed to a non-negotiable understanding with myself. I’d committed to “The End of Suffering.” I’d finally managed to exile the voices in my head that told me my personal happiness was only as good as my outward success, rooted in things that were often outside my control.”
While understandably hurt, enraged and terrified, she kept his issue HIS. She held to her belief that her happiness was not in the offing for extinction. He eventually came around. While it’s always easier to be happy when the outcome is good, holding tightly to her commitment to not suffer another’s crisis, even that of her husband, is what allowed for him to resolve his own mid-life kerfuffle and return to the family.