How parking the car strengthened our relationship - Sammi Jaeger

What do reverse parallel parking and trust have in common? Lemme tell you.

Earlier this week I was driving with my husband Nathan in the passenger seat, we approached our destination and I spotted a car park on the street between a Vespa and another car, a tight spot but totally achievable for our little car.

As I reversed into the snug spot, Nath jumped out of our car and stood on the footpath giving me hand signals on how close I was to the obstacles in front and behind me as I manoeuvred into the spot. 

The car was parked and perfectly aligned in the space in under a minute. Not because I am an expert parker or because Nath is overly skilled in sign language but because we worked together as a team. Together we conquered a task much faster than if either of us had gone at it alone.

It’s almost the perfect analogy for our relationship and life together. Wherever possible we embrace the opportunity to see things from the others perspective to ultimately achieve the shared goal with as little effort as possible. From where he was standing, Nath could spot and see things I simply couldn’t see even with car cameras and mirrors.

Landing a perfect Rockstar car park in a busy beachside suburb on a beautiful day won’t be the biggest challenge we face, but it reminded me how many of our relationship skills were at play.

Focus - Knowing and agreeing on what we want to achieve
Communication - Being understanding and understood with clarity and no confusion
Team work - Both contributing and playing our respective roles to the best of our ability
Trust - That the other was doing and saying what was best for the intended outcome

These relationship and life skills are ones we have committed to mastering together. We won’t ever get to 100%, 100% of the time - we are human after all. But the investments we’ve made and continue to make in our relationship, pay us dividends day after day. It's got an incredible return on investment.

What skills are you currently investing in to make your relationship and life even better?