Sometimes, poor formation is obvious. Other times, we may not readily recognise its detrimental impact because it seems so natural and compatible. But is the easy way always the best way? Or might we be called to something more than what we inherited from our families?

Most of the time, the disagreements we have are due to incompatible formation. We debate back and forth which way is better in favour of what we each believe is the ‘normal’ or ‘proper’ way to proceed.

This friction has an obvious root: there are two different expectations arising from our different formation experiences – that is, we have incompatible expectations.

A common – but more difficult to see – pattern is when our formation is compatible but suboptimal. Because the absence of overt friction between us fails to alert us to a hidden problem, we can easily fall into the trap of suboptimal outcomes.

But the absence of friction doesn’t necessarily tell us that this is the best possible way for us as a couple.

Compatible… but suboptimal

To illustrate the idea, let’s take a very obvious example; suppose both spouses came from families where the parents sorted their differences with loud, abusive exchanges. Coming into their new marriage, each spouse would be naturally inclined to adopt a similar communication style.

However, this compatibility in communication style is hardly optimal. But because it will feel normal, neither is likely to object to its use, and the suboptimal behaviour will thus continue. Their formation is compatible, but clearly, it is suboptimal and will ultimately cause them difficulties.

The reality is most of our formation will be compatible, especially if we were raised in similar cultures. That can be a great help to us in minimising conflict, but there is also a danger in these situations of settling for the status quo.

A particular behaviour or attitude may feel very comfortable and ‘right’ in that it fits with our mental pictures of what is normal. The question is: is it the optimal for our relationship?

At best, it may lead us to settle for less than the fullness to which we are called. At worse, it may unwittingly erode our relationship.

The most obvious type of compatible but suboptimal formation is where both spouses share similar formation in what are clearly destructive behaviours. For example, a family history of physical or verbal abuse, porn use, addictions or infidelity.

Another common area is the experience of family divorce. Research correlates the likelihood of second-generation divorce with divorce in the family of origin, demonstrating this principle of compatible but suboptimal formation.

The Easy Way…

In these examples, it’s fairly obvious how it causes trouble due to its self-evident dysfunctional nature. It’s the more subtle examples – where the formation is neutral or even positive – that the pattern is more difficult to identify.

For example, in our own formation, we were both blessed with wonderful examples of marital forgiveness and reconciliation. Our parents were excellent role models, and we entered marriage with a high value for promptly restoring unity whenever we hurt each other.

The phrase “never let the sun go down on your anger”, a quote from scripture, rang in our ears and prompted us to prioritise reconciliation.

Sounds great, right? It should have been, except that the way we applied it was causing us trouble.

We hated being out of sorts and distant from each other, so we were always eager to reconcile. But we were so hasty, we tended to rush to the last part of reconciliation, skipping the crucial ‘discovery’ process that makes reconciliation meaningful and effective.

In our haste, we often failed to fully understand how we had wounded each other, making us more likely to repeat the past behaviour.

Once we recognised the unhealthy pattern, we chose to slow the reconciliation process down, so that we could better explore how we were failing each other. We had to learn how to stay with uncomfortable emotions so that we could confront the attitudes and behaviour that were causing harm to our relationship.

It was hard work but very fruitful and worthwhile.

So in this case, we had adopted what we knew to be very good formation and also compatible formation. But it was suboptimal for us because we applied it incompletely. We didn’t realise there were many more details to the reconciliation process that we simply didn’t see, and therefore overlooked.

… or God’s Way

God calls us to always strive for more in our marriage – to seek the fulfilment of His plan for our relationship. ‘Compatible but suboptimal’ formation reminds us that the easy way, or the mutually agreeable way, is not always the best way.

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Originally published at SmartLoving. Photo by August de Richelieu.