Getting real feedback
I got to spend some refreshing time with my favorite person in the world yesterday evening. I married her, so we spend a lot of time together, but yesterday was a particularly great time, involving dropping the kid off (did he have the best time of all? From the way he talked about it, possibly).
One of the great benefits of taking an evening to go out together is getting a chance to catch up. My wife is my best feedback loop. She sees things that I can’t identify, both problems and strengths. She’s not the type to make things up just to make me feel better (Proof? Final mini golf scores: Rebecca – 57 (2 over), Andrew – 60 (5 over)… definitely no problem beating me).
But, when we talk, it’s not a dispassionate discourse. It’s not neutral. She’s invested. She cares (Even when it’s stuff that she wouldn’t have cared about before she married me). That’s what makes the conversation so valuable. I get interaction at a level that is in direct proportion to the love Rebecca has for me.
So, sometimes maybe there’s a value to getting feedback from a dispassionate source. But, there’s a lot more value (when you have the right sources) to getting feedback from people who are invested in you.
You are truly blessed to have her! But no, she’s never minded beating you, has she.