Stress and Marriage

I have read on numerous MS websites that it is unsure if MS really is aggravated by stress, but that some patients think they see a correlation.  I am one of those.  And unfortunately, I have a type A personality, so I am always stressed.  I actually wonder if people who have MS tend to be more anxious and get stressed out more easily.  As long as I can remember, little things stressed me out.  Especially punctuality.  If I am not 5 minutes early to something, I consider myself to be late and totally stress out.  I know this about myself, so to save myself stress, in college, I learned to leave 5 minutes earlier than I knew I needed to.  It really helped to cut out a lot of unnecessary stress.  I still do this when I get to decide when I'm leaving.  And I am very good at having my kids all ready to go out the door 5 minutes before I know we need to leave.  We need to know ourselves and what stresses ourselves out and learn to deal with it.  
My husband is not like me, though.  He doesn't see a problem with walking in 10 minutes late.  Whereas by that point I am about to have a conniption!   So, for instance, most Sunday mornings, the kids and I would sit in the car waiting for my husband to come out so we could get to church.  After 4 and a half years of this, I have noticed in the past few months that he has put forth an effort to move a little faster and be ready to go when I am ready.  This tells me he loves me and cares about what is important to me (like being punctual).
So, yes, being married adds a whole new dimension because now I need to know myself as well as this whole other person who I CANNOT CONTROL.  But as long as you communicate and you are both constantly trying to put the others' needs and wishes above your own, then it won't be so stressful.  This is something I have learned recently. 

Being married is wonderful.  I am never alone.  I know that no matter what happens, I have someone there to protect me, comfort me, advise me, help me.  I always have someone to go to activities with.  I love being married!  It is a lot of work, and can be stressful, and after 4 and a half years, we still don't have it all figured out.  But the happy moments outnumber the stressful ones :)

me and the love of my life