Go for the Gold, Carnie

Last night on Celebrity Wife Swap (yes, I watch reality shows…so, sue me) Tracey Gold and Carnie Wilson switched places for a week and tried living with each others families. So, at the beginning of the show, each "new wife" finds a manual from the "old wife" explaining how the household is run. Wilson Phillips singer, Carnie Wilson's manual (the one she left fro Growing Pains star, Tracey Gold) said that she and her husband didn't spend much time together and were like "ships passing in the night." Hello… first red flag!

So, turns out at the Wilson household, hubby, Ron, stays in his recording studio until late into the night and never eat meals with his family. Now, get this; at the Wilson homestead, there's a couple nannies, a housekeeper, a grounds guy, and probably someone to wipe your behind. At the Gold's place, they do it all. And, their house is modest in comparison to Carnie's.

But, when it came time for the couples to reunite, who do you think received flowers? Who was obviously overjoyed to be back in each others arms? Who kissed and kissed and kissed again? It was Tracy and her beau. And, who was obviously a bit jealous and even verbalized it? Carnie and her recluse of a man. In other words, even though they had the bigger house and had hired help, they weren't truly happy, and they wanted what Tracey and her hubby had.

Look, it's simple. Most of us are guilty of it. We know that we want a great relationship, but we think that money, success, work, etc will offer immediate gratification, so we invest in them, leaving our relationships to fend for themselves. Then we wonder why we don't have a marriage like the Seavers, er, uh, I mean Golds. Carnie said, "You two make it look so easy."

I love that they responded that it's no easy, that they work at it. Because, like anything else worthwhile, you must work at it. It's an investment. It takes time and effort and resources. But, it's an investment that's nearly guaranteed to reap incredible dividends!