How to Avoid the Mistakes Your Parents Made in Love

I don't think I know one person who doesn't wish to be different than their parents when it comes to the relationship they share with their spouse. Either their parents were cold and indifferent, or they were constantly showing their tempers around their children, or they used their children to hurt their spouse in some way, the list goes on and on. And time after time I hear my friends say "I'll never be like that when I'm married and have kids". But the question eventually occurred to me: How many of their parents said the same thing before they had children of their own?

I admit being one of those people who refuses to make the mistakes my parents did and still do. It's not enough to say "Oh, I'll never do that" unless you understand what's at the heart of the behavior. Otherwise how do you know what you're capable of? Learn to look at your parents as people, with dreams and flaws. This can be really tough and can take some time. But you have to do this in order to know where they were coming from, or else you're bound to repeat their mistakes.