The MarriageEnvy.com 20/20/20 GIVEAWAY!!!

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PLEASE SHARE THIS POST and/or LINK http://MarriageEnvy.com/giveaway! Thank you! :-)

Kara and I have been celebrating 20 years this year (read all about it here: http://marriageenvy.com/20years) and there's only a couple months of this anniversary year left for us. To end this 20th Anniversary Year-Long Celebration and to start off the New Year between now and the end of our 20th Anniversary year (which ends February 13, 2013) we will be giving away 20 of each of the following prizes worth over $6,000!

20 FREE MarriageEnvy.com FULL 90-MINUTE ASSESSMENT SESSIONS

  • A $225 ($150/h0ur) value each.
  • Conducted by Jonathan Sherman, LMFT locally at one of his offices or via Skype if you live elsewhere.
  • Total value for this giveaway: $4,500

20 FREE MarriageEnvy.com GREAT RELATIONSHIP BOOK PACKAGES

  • Three of my fav books in the MarriageEnvy.com trifecta. These are the three books I recommend most often:
  1. Marriage Mastery: "The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work," by John M. Gottman
  2. Parent Training: "Parenting with Love and Logic," by Jim Fay and Foster Cline
  3. Self-Mastery: "The Bonds that Make Us Free: Healing Our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves," by C. Terry Warner
  • Total value for this giveaway: $1,500

20 FREE MarriageEnvy.com WORKSHOP COUPLES TICKETS 

  • Good for any workshop in The Relationship Mastery Series (http://marriageenvy.com/RMS)
  • Each Couple Tickets comes with two tickets for you and your partner or you and a friend.
  • You can attend locally or via webinar anywhere in the world.
  • A $30 value for each couples ticket
  • Total value for this giveaway: $600

TO ENTER JUST FILL OUT THE FORM AT http://MarriageEnvy.com/giveaway This giveaway ends February 13, 2013 and winners will be selected randomly from all submissions on February 14, 2013. Winners will be notified by phone and email.

Good luck! Hope you win! :-)

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST and/or LINK! Thank you! :-)

Jonathan's Top 20 Posts of 2012

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Why compassion for other's weaknesses, shortcomings and faults?

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Why compassion for other's weaknesses, shortcomings and faults? I just read a simple and good answer in Catching Fire (2nd book in The Hunger Games trilogy, p.32):

"Because sometimes things happen to people and they're not equipped to deal with them."

Too often we hold people to the standard of our own preparation and abilities, when the truth is not all are equipped the same. Compassion creates space to learn and become equipped. Judgment creates no space, only demands immediate compliance.


— For more tips, strategies and resources for creating truly GREAT relationships with self and others visit http://JonathanSherman.net —

Liked it? Want more? Get the Great Relationships eBook.

Morning Mindfulness Moment

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Morning Mindfulness Moment

I walked out of my office this morning to wait for my client in the cool air and sunshine. At that moment, I heard the chirping of birds and through the barren trees saw the striking beauty of Mount Timpanogos to the east. I was overcome by a sense of peaceful happiness as I considered how interconnected all things are. I heard the bird, felt the chill in the air, felt the warm sun, smelled the cold of the air, and squinted at the brightness of the sun. My five senses took it all in—in a single moment—and my spirit thrilled. It was so apparent how connected all my senses were to that around me and how dependent they were on these things to have sense in the first place….

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Greatest Accomplishment?

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Speaker, author and great humanitarian Tiffany Berg Painter (that's her to the right), whom I am happy to know, asked on Facebook today:

"What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment in life so far?"

My response:

Great question. Tough to answer with just one thing but I'll list a progression of the greatest accomplishments so far in my life:
  1. Accepting Christ into my life as a teenager--opened up the door to SO, SO, SO many good things most especially:
  2. Meeting my best friend and marrying her--who gave me:
  3. My four greatest treasures. So proud of the fine young people they are and so grateful to be their father. Eternally grateful for my wife for them. Amen and amen!
  4. My education, training, profession and successful independent practice as a relationship strategist (marriage and family therapist). So proud and impressed by my amazing clients who take on the tough challenges of life and overcome!
  5. I can trace all of these accomplishments (or rather gifts) to the first on the list. Hallelujah!
Liked it? Want more? Get the Great Relationships eBook.

GREAT Relationships don't 'just happen'... They are created!

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by: Jonathan Sherman

Okay gang. Here's the low down. Everyone WANTS a great relationship—a happy marriage, a loving and profound connection with their children, an enjoyable workplace—but the reality is most people are doing just that: Wanting. And from that wanting their relationships are left wanting (e.g., lacking).

Instead of actually engaging in the work of creation, most people are hoping, wishing, and waiting for the great relationship they want. Then when it doesn't come or "just happen" they turn that wanting into criticism, complaints, contempt and resentment which guarantees that GREATness in their relationships will continue to elude them.

Wake up: Relationships will no longer tolerate sloppiness. The supports just aren't there anymore for poor relationships to be held together regardless of whether they "should" or not.

So how do we create GREATness in our relationships? The same way we create anything else in this life: Study the masters; learn the best practices; practice, practice, practice; integrate; take action; and maintain a willingness to change course, modify strategies, and dump approaches that just aren't working.

In all of this creation of GREATness the only part that "wanting" plays is the initial creation of the vision and the ongoing motivation to do the requisite work towards that vision's goals. In other words, the work of GREATness is summed up as follows:

"Knowing is not enough, you must apply;
willing is not enough, you must do."
—Bruce Lee

So where do we go to study the masters and learn the best practices? Start here: At rel8gr8.com you will find:

  • Relationship strategist Jonathan Sherman's services, workshops, resources and free articles all designed towards GREATness creation;
  • The GREAT Relationships eZine Blog
  • The GREAT Relationship Masters Project which gives models of GREAT relationships that we can study and learn from. Too many people have no clue what a GREAT relationship actually looks like up close and personal. Well here they are. Study and emulate those who've mastered the path of GREATness.
  • Valentine's All Year (VAY) is "A glimpse into one man's ongoing love affair with his wife." Every entry contains personal examples as well as a corresponding and specific GREAT Relationship Principle applicable to all relationships who aspire to GREATness. VAY includes these two daily and weekly blogs:

The good news is that "not knowing" how to create a GREAT relationship is no longer an excuse. The hackneyed excuse of "my marriage/child didn't come with an owner's manual" no longer flies. The knowledge and practices are available. The coaching and support exists to integrate the learning.

Now is the time for GREATness. GREATness does not come to those who wait. It never "comes." It is created and re-created daily. Create it!

Liked it? Want more? Get the Great Relationships eBook.

Kahlil Gibran on Marriage, from The Prophet

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The wisdom in these few words on marriage are profound, sublime and deep. Consider them well as you continue to craft a lasting and powerful relationship based in such mature and respectful love.

I put together this video using the text from Kahlil Gibran's most famous work, and timeless classic, The Prophet. He is one of my favorite authors and I love the depth, soul, sweetness and pathos of his writings. The music is a classical guitar version of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

You may view it on YouTube directly if you want to view it full screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF-HLwwX5P8

Impromptu Family Silliness: A Valentine's Day Story

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Another build-a-story during church...


Dad: "The following story is true. It all started 63 years ago when...
Adam (15): I fell down the...
Emily (13): water buffalo. It was uncommon. But...
Molly (10): it was very fun.
Dad: Yet, how could I get anyone to believe such an incredible occurance? I decided that I would...
Matthew (8): go to the bathroom...
Mom: and take a shower to wash off the buffalo poop I had fallen into when I fell off the water buffalo. However...
Adam: when I got out the smell would not come off. But luckily, my wife for some odd reason liked the smell, so...
Emily: I decided to take it for granted. The way I did that was...
Molly: a princess came and...
Dad: it turned out she was a magic fairy princess and she cast a spell on me so the smell would stay on me for the rest of my life so my wife could always enjoy this new cologne. Then...
Mom: I started to attract many more water buffalo. Everywhere I went I had a herd of water buffalo following me around even when I went to...
Adam: the ball games and they wouldn't let me in so it became a curse...
Emily: Then my goldfish died.
Molly: It died because of the smell. I...
Dad: cried and cried and cried and wondered how on earth any of this had to anything to do with Valentine's Day? Then I realized...
Mom: 'Oh yeah!' I yelled. 'My wife still likes my smell.' So I went home to my wife and we decided to be Valentine's for ever!

The End.

— For more tips, strategies and resources for creating truly GREAT relationships with self and others visit http://JonathanSherman.net —

Liked it? Want more? Get the Great Relationships eBook.