I just finished reading the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I took the profile. My primary love languages are Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation.

I am love starved. I desperately need encouragement, words of affirmation. Looking back on my life I can now see how my grandmother saved my life. When all had given up on me, my mother, my father, my sister, my grandmother still encouraged me. She believed in me when I did not believe in myself and eventually I triumphed over adversity. It was hard. It took years and years, but when I graduated from college and my grandmother was there to see how I had finally made something of myself, I was so happy.

The book was encouraging and answered a lot of questions for me. It opened my eyes to a big missing piece in my marriage. My wife doesn’t want to talk about it. She doesn’t want to read the book. She doesn’t want to do the Tank Check game.

But I did start the exercise From Chapter 12: Loving the Unlovely. This is where you ask your spouse for feedback “I’ve been thinking about us and I’ve decided that I would like to be a better husband to you.”

Has anybody tried this? I’m looking for some words of encouragement, letting me know I’m on the right track.