I remember how frustrated I felt, early in our marriage, as I told my husband: "I feel like ice cream. Nothing else appeals to me. Don't you understand what it feels like to crave something?" My husband, looking a little apologetic, admitted he had no clue. He said sometimes he wanted a specific food, but the idea of wanting something to the exclusion of anything else felt nonsensical. All he knew was hungry and not hungry.
This was a frustration in our marriage more than once until, one day, as I was washing dishes, it occurred to me that there was something my husband felt the same way about - we just hadn't thought to draw the parallel. Excited, I declared: "Cravings are like sex!"
He was a little skeptical until I explained it to him like this: "When you start thinking about sex, it's hard to think about anything else, right? You can't stop thinking about it, and it's hard to concentrate. You could go for a run or try to read a book, and that might work for awhile, but those things aren't going to take care of that desire; only sex will! That's what it's like when I'm craving something."
All of the sudden, he understood, and he's been very empathetic of my cravings ever since. We've shared this story with other couples, because we see the benefit not only for the wife but also for the husband - being able to explain his desire for sex to his wife. The cravings of men and women aren't things we can simply ignore or forget about - they are a very present frustration - and, thankfully, easily taken care of.
Have you struggled to explain your cravings to your spouse? Does this help you to understand or explain cravings yourself? How else might you draw a parallel?
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