5 Decisions Your Spouse Should Never Make for You

Career choices. Your career choices can affect your relationship dynamic, sometimes quite drastically. Nevertheless, you should always be the one to decide which career path to choose. Your partner can express their opinion, guide and support you, but the ultimate decision is all yours. Of course, with choice comes responsibility. If your choice involves frequent travel or even relocation, you should be the one to put more effort into making your marriage work.

Body modifications. You shouldn't let anyone influence the decisions that affect your body. Whether you want to cut or dye your hair, get a piercing or a tattoo, undergo plastic surgery or make any other temporary or permanent change on your body, the choice is yours and yours alone. Yet again, your spouse has the right to give their input, but only you get to make the decision.

Spending your money. When you're legally married and have a joint bank account, you share some expenses such as bills, groceries, big purchases, etc. However, each of you should have some money of your own that you can spend on whatever you want. As long as your spending habits don't affect your family budget, you can do whatever you want with the personal money you have. Of course, this is a two-way street, your partner has the same right to spend their money.

Choosing friends. In an ideal world, your partner's friends become your friends, and vice versa. However, in real life it doesn't always work out. Your partner may dislike some of your friends for whatever reason (maybe they got off the wrong foot or have clashing personalities), but they can't dictate you who you should be friends with. The only exception is when your friendships are affecting your relationship with your spouse and/or when your friends are clearly taking advantage of you.

Using birth control/having kids. Well, this one is a situation where both spouses get to have a say. But neither of you should impose their opinion on the other. Having a child is a big decision that affects both of you, so if you don't want to have one, your partner will have to agree with you. (Especially if you're the one who's going to bear the child.) This goes both ways. If your spouse is not ready to become a parent, you'll have to respect their choice.