What's all this about submission?

Submission - another unfriendly word, almost anywhere you go. But why? Don't people realize that every day we are submitting to somebody, something, somewhere? Unless we are running around doing every single thing our heart desired (yikes!) we are submitting to some authority other than ourselves, whether it be the government (law), our boss / teacher / parents, or God. So why when the Bible talks about women submitting to their husband as to the Lord does everyone have a hissy fit?

Most likely because we do not realize we are submitting to someone or something every day, and we live in ignorant bliss. Either that, or we do realize it and are mad at the world, government, etc. for making us do what we don't want to. But most of the time, we do things, submitting to some higher authority, without even realizing it. What would the world be like if people didn't obey traffic laws and employees told their bosses to take a hike? Chaos, for one, and unhappiness for another - because God created us as people who need direction, and in most cases, people figure out that they are happier submitting their own desires to a higher authority than taking matters into their own hands and suffering the consequences. In this same way, wives can submit to their husbands in happiness, not even realizing it, and reap great rewards from it in the meantime! But it doesn't come naturally, and sometimes we do have to learn the hard way before we give our own desires over to God.

John Ensor's quote below shows us how true submission is not a burden, but in fact a blessing; while selfishness will never lead to happiness:
"Sacrificing and submitting must become the established patterns of our lives, especially in seeking agreement and resolution (remember unity - not winning - is the heart of the matter) when the inevitable conflicts come. Without unity as the goal, battles are won and lost in daily interchanges of "what about what i want?" and "what about my needs?" Whenever these words are spoken, something in the relationship dies...These words kill. Unity has been sacrificed on the altar of self. One has returned to two. It is no longer 'you and me against the world!' It has become 'to each his own.'...
[However...] In a marriage of two equals, the way the husband shows his reverent submission to Christ is in submitting to the burden of leadership. The way the wife shows her reverent submission to Christ is in respecting her husband's obligation to lead and submitting to it in spite of his weakness and inadequacies...Submission is a disposition or attitude of honor and respect for her husband as the leader."

Ladies, when we submit our own desires to our husband, we tell him that we respect his decision and will follow him, even if we don't agree with it. Ultimately, he is responsible before God for making that decision and we are responsible to follow him in it [unless it is against God's law]. A loving husband, on the other side, should also be sacrificing his own desires for the better happiness of his wife, so that he might show her he cares for her before himself. With both husband and wife looking towards the other person first, there is no fear of a domineering husband or a rebellious wife, but a unified relationship seeking happiness in serving each other (which, in fact, is what Christ calls us to do in life).