Day 20: Spouses

[disclaim]First off, a disclaimer: this doesn’t have to be a spouse. It can be any type of significant other, a roommate, or a sister. Pick someone you are close to, that you see often, and that is nearest to your heart.[/disclaim]

Confession: I am not the model wife when it comes to showing gratitude for my husband! We go on dates, I know how to speak an affirmations love language, but I’ve got to be on my guard to do it. Most of the time I’m so caught up in my own head I forget to show affection at all. I know, lame, right? So I am actually looking forward to today’s challenge.

Since I am in no way an expert, I trusted my handy friend Google… and came up empty. There are ways to tell your husband you love him, ways to tell him you’re pregnant (handy, I suppose), and things women wish they could tell their husband (I didn’t dare click that link… that could be scary. But there’s no site specifically thanking husbands! So, I dug through a couple of other search results, and compiled a list of ways to thank a husband (/spouse/significant other). Here are the top 15:

• Thank you for choosing to spend your life with me (I like this one based on healthy principles!).
• Thank you for inspiring me.
• Thank you for helping me become a better version of myself.
• Thank you for telling me I’m beautiful, even when I don’t feel beautiful.
• Thank you for accepting me for who I am.
• Thank you for being my friend.
• Thank you for all of the encouragement you give me.
• Thank you for sticking with me, even when I don’t want to stick with myself.
• Thank you for being the [i.e. patriarch, breadwinner, chef, comedian] in the family.
• Thank you for having boundaries.
• Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts (I’d add an instance here, so it doesn’t sound coercive).
• Thank you for growing.I know that ____ wasn’t easy for you, and I’m grateful you kept at it.
• Thank you for [that thing you said]. It meant a lot to me to hear you say it.
• Thank you for [whatever he/she did that made you fall in love with them]. My life has never been the same since.
• Thank you for taking care of your [dishes/socks/laundry, etc]. It means a lot to me that you respect my time and my need for a clean environment, and don’t create more work for me.

Clearly, for a roommate or a sister, you’re going to have to get a little more creative, They didn’t choose to spend their life with you, but they did choose to still be a part of your life. Thank them for being an example, for being there when no one else was, and, yes, for taking care of their own dishes, if applicable.

Now I’ve got to get off my blog and go tell my husband all the ways I’m thankful for him!