If you convey to your husband that you believe in him, he will usually rise to your expectations. In contrast, if he feels nothing he does is ever good enough, he will stop trying to please you.
We learn from Akiva's wife Rachel the power of believing in and nurturing your husband. She recognized in this illiterate 40 year old man the potential to be the gadol ha'dor (greatest sage of the generation). She enabled him to learn, even at great sacrifice to herself, and he ended up becoming Rabbi Akiva.
When he introduced his thousands of students to his wife, he told them: "Everything I am, and everything you are, is due to her."
Important Numbers
