The Rules of Life

Be the First to Say Sorry Don’t care who started it. Don’t care what it was about. Don’t care who is right and who is wrong. Don ...

And what if you are both reading this book? Heavens. Then you must not tell each other you are—Rule 1—but then race to be the fi ...

Go That Extra Step in Trying to Please Them What? You have to be the first to say you are sorry, encourage and support them, giv ...

This is finding ways to delight them beyond the normal, way beyond what is expected, further than anyone else would. This is a f ...

Always Have Someone—or Something—That Is Pleased to See You We’re back to the woman and her greyhounds here. When she comes home ...

Having someone or something who is pleased to see you is important because it gives you someone who needs you, and this gives yo ...

Know When to Listen and When to Act I don’t know if it’s harder for us men to learn this one, but I find it tough. Whenever anyo ...

a problem with me by saying, “Hold it right there; I can see exactly what this needs” and then rushing off to fetch my tool kit. ...

Have a Passion for Your Life To g e t h e r So you two met and fell in love and resolved to spend your lives together. And you a ...

shared happiness, drive, and the pursuit of excellence. It isn’t? What is it then? It has to be if you are going to get the maxi ...

Make Sure Your Love Making is Making Love So! We get to talk about sex now? Well, actually no. What I’m going to talk about is l ...

who is prepared to take her clothes off at the same time as I do is an honor....) Making love is as close as we are ever going t ...

Keep Talking Ye p , y o u ’ v e g o t t a k e e p t a l k i n g. W h e n t h e r e i s t r o u b l e a f o o t , i t ’s talking ...

There is obviously a time and a place for silences (see Rule 58)—but talking is healthy, productive, companionable, friendly, lo ...

Respect Privacy “I want to be alone....” Each and every one of us has a God- given right to respect, privacy, trust, honesty. Bu ...

Sharing a bathroom all the time isn’t desirable, at least not for all activities. Ugh, how horrid. If you can’t have separate ba ...

Check You Both Have the Same Shared Goals When we first meet and fall in love, we think we know pretty well everything we can ab ...

dreams are things you aim to get one day, and goals are what you are doing together. Dreams are acquisitions that either of you ...

Treat Your Partner Better Than Yo u r B e st Fr i e n d I was talking to a friend about this Rule the other day, and she disagre ...

I’ll give you an example. You are a passenger in a car being driven by a friend. She makes a foolish error (though not a dangero ...