Opposites Attract

My early morning wake up today meant that come dinner time I was very tired, and when I’m very tired I babble. Incessantly. Well, not just when I’m tired. I do it when I’m very excited, or just in a really good mood, too. Regardless, this is one of the many facets of the mouse that drives the hubby quite bonkers.

A while ago, we were in the kitchen together working on dinner, me babbling on as I do, and he trying to get me to stop. Eventually he just told me to quit and I, understandably (to me, at least), got a bit upset at this and wandered off to sulk at my desk.

During my little sulking fit a dozen thoughts ran through my squeaky little brain, the foremost of which was “Why on earth would he marry me if he can’t stand half the things I do? It doesn’t make any sense!”. After a few minutes of pondering this thought, the answer came to me: Opposites attract.

But why? It seems like such a silly thing. Who would want to spend all their time with someone who was completely different than themselves? Wouldn’t it be much nicer to spend that time with someone you have many things in common with? The easiest explanation is of course that with someone who is the opposite of yourself you’ll never have to worry about being bored; your opposite will always find some new way to oppose you, and you will do the same for them. I never have liked easy explanations though, so again I set the little wheel in my head turning over these thoughts.

Could it simply be that humans as a species are gluttons for punishment? We constantly put ourselves through seemingly impossible trials in an effort to “better” ourselves, so is this just another kind of trial, and will I be a better person for it when all is said and done? Perhaps its just a part of our constant need to grow, learn and evolve, who better to teach us new things regularly than someone with totally different interests and desires?

Looking back at some of the things the hubby and I have accomplished together, I would have to say that despite being opposites in many ways, we do compliment each other quite well. He always looks for a scientific or mechanical way to do things, while I always try to come up with a more mental or creative approach, and in the end we’ve always reached a combination that did better than either of us could have done alone.

Considering this I think I’ll go with the latter of my thoughts, that humans strive to learn and change, if only because it seems a bit less dismal than the other options. Maybe now that I’ve thought all this through I won’t get so frustrated with him when he gets cranky about my babbling, or does any of the number of other things that annoy me. But then again, maybe I will…