1. UNIVERSAL PEACE FEDERATION UPF Marriage and Family Series Marriage, My Spiritual Path Tending to the soul of your marriage

2. Tending to the Soul of your marriage Most marriages do not need more excitement, activity, glitz but they yearn for depth

3. Marriage is a Spiritual Partnership Research finds couples sharing faith & spiritual commitment to each other are more likely to be happy

4. Marriage and Spiritual Practice Requires Self-discipline, Emotional Control, Overcoming Selfishness

5. Trying to change your partner is not Honoring

6. This is about Me You can’t change your partner. Your Focal Point is your own spiritual path not on your partner or your relationship, but your highest self

7. Relationships as Spiritual Practice Spirituality is not more and more principles you learn; it is a quality you gradually achieve, the person you become, connecting to the deepest level of self by the actions that you choose to do.

8. Verbal Communication: Often ineffective or worse Most of our habits involve destructive communication, most of us lack skill It is easier to get off center while communicating verbally and to be misinterpreted. Motivation often is to change the spouse, ineffective & disrespectful.

9. Loving Acts: Reliable Spiritual Practice Loving Actions can make all the difference, and speak louder than words.

10. Loving Actions Unilateral Will Experimental Spiritual growth

11. The Power of One: Homework One person can change the relationship Choose a specific, concrete action or behavior that you could do, for a certain time period, with out telling your spouse, that would be loving and positive for your spouse. Try the experiment for your spiritual growth and out of good will. See if you change internally and if anything changes in the relationship.

12. Loving Actions To live in accord with spiritual values is to live by choice and awareness rather than always to be in reaction to the people around you

13. Deepening Connection The more you are motivated by your most inner stirrings, the more you become your most authentic self,… the more you will be able to connect with your spouse at a deep level.

14. Loving: Our Spiritual Path The teachers we need most are the people we’re living with now. Our spouses, parents, and children are the clearest masters we could hope for. Again and again they will show us the truth we don’t want to see, until we see it.

15. Thank you