Successful People Are Grounded People
I have dedicated my last 2 weekly blogs to my daughter Vanessa and my son Zach. Both of my children have provided me with enormous support and inspiration and they have continued to support me in my new business. This week I am dedicating my blog to my husband Grant without whom I would not be as immensely loved and supported in all of my personal, family and professional endeavours since we married 36 years ago.
Friendship, respect, mutual admiration, pride and contentment are what I think most couples experience after the unbelievable feelings of falling in love. As much as we would like to think otherwise, it is simply not realistic or feasible to sustain the high intensity that is felt at the start of any romance. Some of the feelings of new love will endure for many years, but reality becomes inevitable. In reality, we learn how to be satisfied with our partner and accept our mutual imperfections. We learn how to sacrifice, support and compromise so that we value our relationship in both good and difficult times. More often than not, it is one partner who keeps the other grounded and, in my case, there is no doubt that this person is my husband, Grant.
I have always been predisposed to an all or nothing mentality. More times than I can even count, I have worked so hard at something or for someone that I totally lost any perspective and objectivity to know whether I was helping or hindering the person or situation. My husband does an incredible job of helping me balance my extreme tendencies. Knowing that he always has my back enables me to forge ahead with my latest and greatest business ideas while knowing I still have a safety net beneath me. My husband makes me feel secure that I won’t have to handle any real or perceived failures on my own.
All bonds are built on trust and any bond between two people will cease to exist if trust is eroded or severed for whatever reason. For the 36 years that we have been married, we have always respected each other even when our opinions differ. We are able to acknowledge when we have overstepped our boundaries or when we have taken each other for granted. We also give each other a wide swath of personal space which we both very much value. When it comes to trust and respect, my husband keeps me real and grounded.
We constantly work on our roles and responsibilities in our relationship and we realize that there has to be a division of labour in order for our relationship to thrive and survive. I am not sure that my self-discipline is always the best but I know that my husband's is. He is the go-to guy for our entire family and we all know that he is the glue that holds us together.
I think the biggest lesson we have learned in our 3 decades together is that we must have the ability to compromise and forgive each other if our marriage is to succeed. Both attributes are really the greatest and final form of love. Even in the most difficult of times, we agree that our ability to forgive each other is a true sign of how much we love each other. This keeps us grounded in our relationship.
One of my biggest life dreams has been to operate my own business which I am currently doing. Starting a business has not been easy on our relationship but 3 years later we are still married, we are still friends and my business is highly successful.
Not everyone has a spouse or partner to help keep the stay grounded but if you are such a person, I strongly encourage you to reach out to a friend, relative or another trusted person to help you stay balanced and grounded. I do not believe that anyone can be a true success unless they have someone to keep them grounded and I want to thank and honour my husband Grant for being that person to me.