Have you ever heard the phrase "you can't judge a book by its cover"? Yeah, me too. And I was one of those people that actually did judge books by their covers. I realized one day that I may have been missing out on some pretty good books, so I decided to judge them by their reviews instead of by their covers.
I should have stuck with the covers.
When you read reviews for books on websites, you are opening yourselves to the opinions of others. Before you even open the cover and read the introduction, you are overcome with the positive and/or negative thoughts of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of readers. You get a summary and breakdown of the story, information about the characters and even some insight about the author. There are spoiler alerts and sometimes in-depth analyses of the entire book.
It ruins the reading some of the time.
But them I began to think about my husband. Love him though I do, I may have given a bad impression of him to my close friends and family. We have had our share of issues, and during those times, I confided in the people closest to me for sound advice, a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. Once I threw my tantrums, wiped my nose and got myself together, I didn't realize the negative review that I gave those people of my husband.
Luke 6:45
"... out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."
How many stars do you think you gave him?
When we bring others into our marriage, even if it is as innocent as needing someone to talk to, we forget that, we are painting a picture of our husband.
Just like the books I've read reviews on, a review can make or break a possible purchase. When you buy something online, if it is a bad product, whether its defective or just overall horrible, you are much more likely to write a negative review. And not only will you write that review, but you will probably tell everyone you know about your bad experience with that product and that company. Its just like having a bad experience at a restaurant; you tell everyone you know. And you are influencing that person's opinion before they even get a chance to experience the product or service for themselves.
The same goes for your husband.
In my opinion, its best not to go in on the rants to others when you and your husband have problems. Why? Because, most likely, when things improve, you won't go into rants about how wonderful he is. And you've left the listening ear with negative words, not realizing that you've formed an opinion of your husband and your marriage for them.
I don't know about you, but I would much rather eat at a 5 star-rated restaurant or stay in a 5 star-rated hotel over a one star place any, and I think you would too.
Even on your bad days, as far as everyone else should be concerned,
Give him 5 stars....
