My ego surrenders (and it is a wonderful thing...)

Well, it has happened again. I have had to yield to my wife. As a man, I feel the need to be correct about most things, even when it comes to tiny issues. I, like my XY chromosomed brethren, choose to put pride before acceptance and continue to believe that the blame must lie elsewhere, that I am certainly not responsible for the crummy situation that I have landed myself and loved ones into. Of course, my wife, being the caring, nurturing woman that she is, tries to put up with it as long as humanly possible until she cannot take it anymore and must break out the big guns, shooting me down where I stand and quickly putting me in my place. She assumes that I will come to my senses and clarity of mind will prevail but that doesn't always happen. My fall from grace is well deserved and needed as my simpleton male brain cannot fathom that the ultimate culprit in the current debacle is none other than the one staring back at me in the mirror...For this, I am forever grateful...that someone has my back, and that my ego will be kept in check...
I sometimes think that my job has ill prepared me for marriage. I have been molded through my 12 years of post high school education that I must be the best-the smartest, sharpest and most competent student and caregiver. Then I start in private practice and I am expected to be on an "island", separate from my partners and able to care for my patients without asking for help. To ask for help, in my male mindset, would be considered a failure in my training...I spent countless hours studying, practicing, and training for life on the "island" and damned if I let that training let me down. I would do it on my own because it was what was expected of me.....
Fast forward to now. I must come home from my "island" and re-enter society, interacting with my wife and children. This, I can tell you is not as easy as it looks. I have found that I bring my "island" home with me and expect everyone to conform to my life on the "island" even when that is not what I intend to happen. My hard wiring as a male and as a doctor are a synergistic duo that can make me a pain in the ass sometimes. It is not intentional I can assure you. However, my wonderful wife, after nearly 12 years of marriage has me figured out (while I am not even close to solving her cryptic puzzle). She lets me think that I have come up with the answer when it is actually her idea and solution. It is quite Machiavellian and supremely effective, however sometimes it doesn't work and the direct approach is necessary. Confrontation is required and I can tell you it is tough being on the receiving end of this. It requires self evaluation and my pride must take a back seat. She is sharper than many psychiatrists and therapists I know and much more to the point. It cuts and hurts at first, but after "objective" evaluation, I see the utter correctness in it all.
She is beautiful and deadly at the same time and I realize that she is the Mama Bear, gentle and nurturing until something threatens her family-in this case her husband's inability to see past his issues-then the claws come out. Luckily as the Papa Bear, I am getting a thicker coat from the occasional, but definitely needed swipes from very loving paws...