John Gray - Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

John Gray Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

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Date: 28 August 2002

NOVA Scans so far:

01. A.J Quinnell - Man on Fire

02. Clive Cussler - Vixen 03

03. Nick Hornby - How to be Good

04. Locks Picks & Clicks

05. Jeffrey Deaver The Empty Chair

06. Kim Stanley Robinson The Years of Rice and Salt

07. John Gray Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

08. Jeffrey Deaver The Stone Monkey (commenced 28 Aug 2002)

Acknowledgments

I thank my wife, Bonnie, for sharing the journey of developing this book with me. 1 thank her for allowing me to share our stories and especially for expanding my understanding and ability to honor the female point of view.

1 thank our three daughters, Shannon, Julie, and Lauren, for their continued love and appreciation. The challenge of being a parent has allowed me to understand the struggles my parents had and love them even more. Being a father has especially assisted me in understanding and loving my father.

I thank my father and mother for their loving efforts to raise a family of seven children. 1 thank my oldest brother, David, for understanding my feelings and admiring my words. 1 thank my brother Williarn for motivating me to higher achievements. 1 thank my brother Robert for all the long and interesting conversations we had until dawn and for his brilliant ideas, from which I always benefit. I thank my brother Tom for his encouragement and positive spirit. 1 thank my sister Virginia for believing in me and appreciating my seminars. I thank my deceased younger brother Jimmy for his love and admiration, which continue to support me through my difficult times.

I thank my agent Patti Breitman, whose help, brilliant creativity, and enthusiasm have guided this book from its conception to its completion. I thank Carole Bidnick for her inspired support at the beginning of this project. I thank Susan Moldow and Nancy Peske for their

expert feedback and advice. I thank the staff at HarperCollins for their continued responsiveness to my needs.

I thank all the thousands who participated in my relationship serninars, shared their stories, and encouraged me to write this book. Their positive and loving feedback has supported me in developing this simple presentation of such a complex subject.

I thank my clients who have shared their struggles so intimately and trusted my assistance in their journey.

I thank Steve Martineau for his skillful wisdom and influence, which can be found sprinkled through this book.

I thank my different promoters, who have put their hearts and souls into producing the john Gray Relationship Seminars where this material was tried, tested, and developed: Elley and Ian Coren in Santa Cruz; Debra Mudd, Gary and Helen Francell in Honolulu; Bill and Judy Elbring in San Francisco; David Obstfeld and Fred Kliner in Washington, D.C.; Elizabeth Kling in Baltimore; Clark and Dottie Bartell in Seattle; Michael Najarian in Phoenix; Gloria Manchester in L.A.; Sandee Mac in Houston; Earlene Carrillo in Las Vegas; David Farlow in San Diego; Bart and Merril Jacobs in Dallas; and Ove Johliansson and Ewa Martensson in Stockholm.

1 thank Richard Cohen and Cindy Black at Beyond Words Publishing for their loving and genuine support of my last book, Men, Women, and Relationsbips, which gave birth to the ideas in this book.

I thank john Vestman at Trianon Studios for his expert audio recordings of my whole seminar and Dave Morton and the staff of Cassette Express for their continued appreciation of this material and their quality service.

I thank the members of my men's group for sharing their stories, and I especially thank Lenney Eiger, Charles Wood, Jacques Early, David Placek, and Chris Johns, who gave me such valuable feedback for editing the manuscript.

I thank my secretary, Arlana, for efficiently and responsibly taking over the office during this project.

1 thank my lawyer (and adopted grandfather of my children), Jerry Riefold, for always being there.

I thank Clifford McGuire for his continued friendship of twenty years. I could not ask for a better sounding board and friend.

Introduction

A week after our daughter Lauren was born, my wife Bonnie and 1 were completely exhausted. Each night Lauren kept waking us. Bonnie had been torn in the delivery and was taking painkillers. She could barely walk. After five days of staying home to help, I went back to work. She seemed to be getting better.

While 1 was away she ran out of pain pills. Instead of calling me at the office, she asked one of my brothers, who was visiting, to purchase more. My brother, however, did not return with the pills. Consequently, she spent the whole day in pain, taking care of a newborn.

I had no idea that her day had been so awful. When I returned home she was very upset. I misinterpreted the cause of her distress and thought she was blaming me.

She said, "I've been in pain all day.... I ran out of pills. I've been stranded in bed and nobody cares!"

1 said defensively, "Why didn't you call me?"

She said, "I asked your brother, but he forgot! I've' been waiting for him to return all day. What am I supposed to do? 1 can barely walk. I feel so deserted!"

At this point 1 exploded. My fuse was also very short that day. I was angry that she hadn't called me. 1 was furious that she was blaming me when I didn't even know she was in pain. After exchanging a few harsh words, I headed for the door. I was fired,

irritable, and had heard enough. We had both reached our limits.

Then something started to happen that would change my life.

Bonnie said, "Stop, please don't leave. This is when I need you

the most. I'm in pain. I haven 't slept in days. Please listen to me."

I stopped for a moment to listen.

She said, "John Gray, you're a fair-weather friend! As long as I'm sweet, loving Bonnie you are here for me, but as soon as I'm not, you walk right out that door."

Then she paused, and her eyes filled up with tears. As her tone shifted she said, "Right now I'm in pain. 1 have nothing to give, this is when 1 need you the most. Please, come over here and hold me. You don't have to say anything. I just need to feel your arms around me. Please don't go."

I walked over and silently held her. She wept in my arms. After a few minutes, she thanked me for not leaving. She told me that she just needed to feel me holding her.

At that moment I started to realize the real meaning of loveunconditional love. I had always thought of myself as a loving person. But she was right. I had been a fair-weather friend. As long as she was happy and nice, I loved back. But if she was unhappy or upset, I would feel blamed and then argue or distance myself.

That day, for the fast time, I didn't leave her. 1 stayed, and it felt great. I succeeded in giving to her when she really needed me. This felt like real love. Caring for another person. Trusting in our love. Being there at her hour of need. I marveled at how easy it was for me to support her when 1 was shown the way.

How had I missed this? She just needed me to go over and hold her. Another woman would have instinctively known what Bonnie needed. But as a man, 1 didn't know that touching, holding, and listening were so important to her. By recognizing these differences I began to learn a new way of relating to my wife. 1 would have never believed we could resolve conflict so easily.

In my previous relationships, I had become indifferent and unloving at difficult times, simply because I didn't know what else to do. As a result, my first marriage had been very painful and difficult.

Ibis incident with Bonnie revealed to me how 1 could change this pattern.

It inspired my seven years of research to help develop and refine the insights about men and women in this book. By learning in very practical and specific terms about how men and women are different, 1 suddenly began to realize that my marriage did not need to be such a struggle. With this new awareness of our differences Bonnie and 1 were able to improve dramatically our communication and enjoy each other more.