I don’t like Bruce Springsteen. At all. I mean, I don’t dislike him personally, I just don’t care for his genre of music. His voice just sounds weird to me and the music is a far cry from the R&B ballads that I love. But I just so happened to marry a man that not only listens to Bruce Springsteen, but he’s kind of obsessed. In fact, at any gathering with his family, there are two topics that are sure to come up, the New England Patriots and Bruce Springsteen. Because I am such a music lover, I subscribe to satellite radio in my car and leave it to my husband to immediately discover that satellite radio has an entire station dedicated to Bruce Springsteen, “E Street Radio.”

I cringed when he found this station over a year ago because I knew that meant every time we traveled in my car, my husband would pose the inevitable question, “Can we turn it to E Street Radio?” I cringed because let’s face it, I am an only child with only child syndrome. I do not like to share. More importantly, I do not like to share my radio. So almost every time my husband asked, I either shot him down immediately, claimed that the Babyface song playing on the Heart & Soul station was my favorite and I hadn’t heard it in a long time so I couldn’t turn (I own every single one of his albums) or I would grudgingly give in and allow him one song from his beloved station. From time to time my husband will complain but for the most part he overlooks my radio greed because he figures it isn’t worth the fight.

Fast forward to the present and to my surprise (read: dismay) Bruce Springsteen has a new album coming out in March, which means his single was released last week. When I received the daily Billboard email discussing Springsteen’s upcoming album, I forwarded it to my husband who was as excited as a four year old on Christmas morning. That night, as soon as we settled down from dinner, he pulled out his Kindle Fire and immediately downloaded Bruce’s new single, “We Take Care of Our Own.” He listened intently and at the end simply said, “This is good.” He looked at me and I shook my head, “I didn’t like it.” I said, still stubbornly sticking to my long held views of Springsteen. Completely unphased by my dislike, my husband went about his business. That was three days ago.

This morning as I jumped in my car for work, I noticed my seat was not in the same position I had left it in. That’s when I remembered that my husband had taken my car out last night to fill it up with gas. I turned on my car, anxious to hear what song was playing on Heart & Soul, and lo and behold, the screen read, “E Street Radio” and “We Take Care of Our Own” was playing. My most immediate thought was to turn, after all, I didn’t have to pretend to want to listen to this; my husband was nowhere to be found. But…the song was kind of catchy. And the more I listened…I liked it. I listened to the entire song this morning and realized two things: 1. Bruce Springsteen isn’t so bad. He’s no Babyface but I can dig him and 2. Don’t be so selfish.

Yes, I do suffer from only child tendencies from time to time, but when you choose to be in a relationship, regardless whether it’s marriage or a courtship, you choose to be open to someone else’s lifestyle, choices, preferences, likes, etc. When you marry them, you’re saying I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know you and appreciating who you are. Admittedly, each time I grudgingly turned to E Street Radio or didn’t turn at all, I was depriving my husband of what I inherently promised to do. I taught myself a lesson by realizing that when I am focused on less of what I want, strange things can happen—I can actually be open to trying new things and appreciating them. Being open minded and less focused on your own needs helps you to well, take care of your own–your family and those around you whom you love. Not so bad, Bruce, not so bad.