The Love Dare 4.9 5 119 173
Be Daring As most people might already know, this book is based upon the Christian movie "Fireproof", which is about a man who saves his marriage by completing a character-testing, 40-day list of "dares" suggested to him by his father. Like the movie, the book of course is Christian based as well.I loved the movie and the book is more of the same. However I looked at both of them from the perspective of a person happily married for over 15 years. I can tell you that while I don't practice all the dares in the book, my spouse and I are good about doing many of them- and of course there's always room for improvement. From my personal experience, I feel like concentrating on the kinds of ideas presented in the book have been absolutely key to making our marriage last.Now the book itself also consists of a 40-day list of dares. For each day, there's about a page and a half or so of advice, followed by a specific dare and some space for you to write down your personal reflections. Dares range from things such as practicing patience to writing out a renewal of your vows. The guys will probably particularly like Day 32!As you can tell, I highly recommend going to see the movie and reading the book. In a society that places a high value on looks and money, while sporting a 50% divorce rate, its nice to see more movies and books coming out that get people more focused on the right values in life. Even if you don't do anything more than just glance through the book, you're going to be given something to think about. Other self-help books I enjoyed include "Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World". 01/28/2009
Great book - its changing my marriage My husband and I have been struggling in our marriage for over a year. He hasn't been loving or caring to me for a year. We were considering divorce. I decided to commit to doing the Love Dare for 40 days, and if it didn't help, I would file for divorce.We are on day 16 and everything has changed. I went into it with the goal of developing real habits of loving my husband unconditionally, whatever that meant. The book has been a personal journey for me, changing my heart and rededicating myself to the commitment of loving him.Additionally, he has responded amazingly to my kindness. Day 1 says, no criticizing, and you have to continue to do day 1 for the entire 40 days. I didn't realize how often I criticized and nit picked him until I had to force myself not to. Along with lots of other acts of kindness towards him, not criticizing him has had a profound effect on his actions toward me. He is kissing me, being affectionate, complimenting me - - things I hadn't seen from him for a year. And he even saw the book laying around and has started doing it back to me. He is on day 3.It's not something to be entered into lightly but if you really can humble your heart and remember the commitment that you made to your marriage, for better or for worse, then this book is for you. Good marriage or bad, everyone can benefit from practicing regular acts of kindness for your spouse. It's amazing how day-to-day life creeps in and robs us from doing that, and that we need a guide to get us back on track. But this book is doing that for us. 07/28/2009
Rules to live by I am not a religious man but I am on a path of spiritual progression. I have been living in a different house from my wife for over 2 years. This book has re-affirmed where the problem with my marriage is... Me. When I change the way I look at things, the things I look at change. If I was not willing to change, this book would not have helped. I never understood the different types of love and what lust is... I guess I missed those lessons in life. This book has given me the un-written rules of love and marriage. I recommend it to anyone who is willing to put the effort into becoming a better person. Some words of caution, this book has A LOT of biblical "Jesus" and "Christ" references. Like I said, I am not religious, so when I read those parts of the book, I just substitute those words for "a god of my own understanding" and it seems to be working. I am on day 30, and I can honestly say I love my wife today and life is good. It wasn't always like that ;) 01/23/2009
Excellent Resource! I sent this as a gift along with the movie "Fireproof". It's a companion product and is great for anyone needing help in their marriage or relationship. Great price also! 03/25/2009
