I have been indulging my "hates" a little lately, so let's do a "love." I love blueberries.
"So what?" you may rightfully ask. Well, I will tell you.
I used to hate blueberries. I am not sure where this came from, but I used to hate blueberries. I was not raised to try a lot of odd foods and blueberries were not frequent in my home when I was young. When I first tasted them, I was singularly unimpressed. I did not like them at all. They were small, rather bland, and not at all as interesting as, say, an orange or an apple or a strawberry or a blackberry (all of which I loved).
Over the years, I gradually become more tolerant. I could eat blueberry muffins, for example, but not really anything else.
Then, a few years ago, I started eating oatmeal at breakfast (another childhood "don't like" food). I found that oatmeal was pretty boring and tried putting things into the oatmeal, leading me back to blueberries. I found that blueberries in oatmeal were fabulous. Then, I found that blueberries were pretty good in pancakes and donuts and ice cream and, frankly, just about anywhere you put them. I love blueberries.
You see, things change. I changed. Blueberries did not change. I changed. I got older. I tried new things. I tried things I was not sure I liked. Then I tried things I did not like in things I was not sure I liked. Eventually, ta-da, I love blueberries.
So, how are things going on the wifely duty front? Have you thought about it much lately? There are lots of things that almost all of you "are supposed to do" that you probably don't really enjoy. You probably don't like doing dishes or vacuuming floors or taking care of laundry. You probably really do enjoy Facebooking and watching certain televisions shows and spending time playing with your children.
The temptation is to do what we want to do and leave the rest for "later," by which we mean "hopefully for someone else." If we wait long enough, our husband will clean up the mess we don't want to clean up, right? Or, if he doesn't, then, when he complains about it, we can remark on his failure to clean it up as well, and dump a little guilt on him. I do not think "she plans to make her husband feel guilty" is one of the Excellent Wife categories we studied.
At some point, we have to learn to do the things we don't currently like doing. I do not like doing a lot of things that I do every day (we call it "my job"). But I do them because it is necessary.
Being an Excellent Wife is a decision you have to make. It is, to put it simply, "your job." It is not about enjoying everything or having fun, it is your duty to get things done in a way that benefits your family and, therefore, benefits you.
Eventually, you may learn to enjoy living in a clean house rather than a messy one. You may learn to like having your children look like decent children rather than homeless waifs from somewhere without good laundry facilities. You may learn that, even if the event itself is not so wonderful, the results are marvelous.
I love blueberries. I almost never eat one on its own, however. I put them in things and the result is marvelous. Kind of like doing dishes, or vacuuming, or ironing, or cleaning up the bird mess around the cage. The result is worth all the work.
"So what?" you may rightfully ask. Well, I will tell you.
I used to hate blueberries. I am not sure where this came from, but I used to hate blueberries. I was not raised to try a lot of odd foods and blueberries were not frequent in my home when I was young. When I first tasted them, I was singularly unimpressed. I did not like them at all. They were small, rather bland, and not at all as interesting as, say, an orange or an apple or a strawberry or a blackberry (all of which I loved).
Over the years, I gradually become more tolerant. I could eat blueberry muffins, for example, but not really anything else.
Then, a few years ago, I started eating oatmeal at breakfast (another childhood "don't like" food). I found that oatmeal was pretty boring and tried putting things into the oatmeal, leading me back to blueberries. I found that blueberries in oatmeal were fabulous. Then, I found that blueberries were pretty good in pancakes and donuts and ice cream and, frankly, just about anywhere you put them. I love blueberries.
You see, things change. I changed. Blueberries did not change. I changed. I got older. I tried new things. I tried things I was not sure I liked. Then I tried things I did not like in things I was not sure I liked. Eventually, ta-da, I love blueberries.
So, how are things going on the wifely duty front? Have you thought about it much lately? There are lots of things that almost all of you "are supposed to do" that you probably don't really enjoy. You probably don't like doing dishes or vacuuming floors or taking care of laundry. You probably really do enjoy Facebooking and watching certain televisions shows and spending time playing with your children.
The temptation is to do what we want to do and leave the rest for "later," by which we mean "hopefully for someone else." If we wait long enough, our husband will clean up the mess we don't want to clean up, right? Or, if he doesn't, then, when he complains about it, we can remark on his failure to clean it up as well, and dump a little guilt on him. I do not think "she plans to make her husband feel guilty" is one of the Excellent Wife categories we studied.
At some point, we have to learn to do the things we don't currently like doing. I do not like doing a lot of things that I do every day (we call it "my job"). But I do them because it is necessary.
Being an Excellent Wife is a decision you have to make. It is, to put it simply, "your job." It is not about enjoying everything or having fun, it is your duty to get things done in a way that benefits your family and, therefore, benefits you.
Eventually, you may learn to enjoy living in a clean house rather than a messy one. You may learn to like having your children look like decent children rather than homeless waifs from somewhere without good laundry facilities. You may learn that, even if the event itself is not so wonderful, the results are marvelous.
I love blueberries. I almost never eat one on its own, however. I put them in things and the result is marvelous. Kind of like doing dishes, or vacuuming, or ironing, or cleaning up the bird mess around the cage. The result is worth all the work.
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