Why Talking Is Not Enough

SUSAN PAGE has been conducting workshops for both singles and couples, nationally and internationally, since 1980. Her international speaking and media career has taken her to twenty-six states, Canada, Korea, Australia, and Mexico. She has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and CNBC, and her work has appeared in People magazine, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Glamour, and McCall’s. Susan began her career as a Protestant campus minister at Washington University in St. Louis and at Columbia University in New York. She was director of women’s programs at the University of California, Berkeley, where she helped found the nation’s first university-based human sexuality program. Her previous books include How One of You Can Bring the Two of You Together; The Eight Essential Traits of Couples Who Thrive; If I’m So Wonderful, Why Am I Still Single? and The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book.

Introduction 1

PART ONE

What Is Spiritual Partnership?

1. Introducing Spiritual Partnership 11

2. Loving Action 1: Adopt a Spirit of Good Will 47

3. Loving Action 2: Give Up Problem Solving 55

4. Loving Action 3: Act as If 71

5. Loving Action 4: Practice Restraint 89

6. Loving Action 5: Balance Giving and Taking 115

7. Loving Action 6: Act on Your Own 129

8. Loving Action 7: Practice Acceptance 157

9. Loving Action 8: Practice Compassion 183

PART TWO

Putting Spiritual Partnership to Work in Your Relationship

10. Exactly How to Use the Eight Loving Actions 209

11. Frequently Asked Questions 221

12. Communication Within Spiritual Partnership 231

13. Making Mature Judgments 241

PART THREE

Seeing Spiritual Partnership in a Broader Context

14. Defining the “Spiritual” in Spiritual Partnership 249

15. The Future of Spiritual Partnership 279

References and Further Reading 291

About the Author 295