“You know I love you. . .” The Beatles, 1963. Love is very important to our existence. Whether it is from a spouse, partner, parent, child, friend or even your pet spider, everyone wants and needs to be loved.
We are all lovable children of the Creator. Every single human being on this planet was created as a lovable, beautiful, miraculous person regardless of their path in life. Every human is capable of giving, receiving, and deserving of love. EVERYONE.
In the spirit of cleaning up your life, let’s look at romantic relationships. Things need cleaning and maintenance to work properly, and so do relationships. If you don’t put gas in your car, it won’t go anywhere. If you don’t put time and energy into your relationship, then it might not go anywhere either.
Think of maintaining your relationship like a seesaw. One person sits at the opposite end of the other, and facing each other. You begin the movement of the seesaw, and it is a continuous back and forth movement to maintain a balanced load. If one person forces the movement to stop, the other is basically left hanging in the air. If they are the stronger person, they are in control. Unless the one in the air jumps off. A good seesaw partner contributes to the movement and maintains balance.
How does your romantic relationship serve you? Do you have a good seesaw partner? Are you one? Relationships are rarely the lust-filled, love-you-til-death with my every breath, as you read in paperback novels. Like a seesaw, relationships have their ups and downs. A good relationship is supporting and accepting. No one deserves to be physically, emotionally or verbally abused. Ending a relationship is devastating in so many ways. Aside from the emotional death you experience, many people are left financially strapped. Children also suffer. If you are in a bad relationship and are staying for your children, they experience as much of an emotional assault as they would if you left. Too often, children become the battleground over which parents play out their non-maintained relationships.
Sometimes a little tending is all it takes to get a relationship back on track. How about date night? Busy life? How about giving each other a half hour of uninterrupted attention each day? No electronic devices; just face-to-face talking about your day or maybe your dreams. If you can create together, you can do anything together. Too tired for sex? Snuggle up and go to sleep like that. Simple touching will activate those feel-good chemicals and many little problems will just fade away. Share all the chores, including children. Have a joint bank account for the household and then each have a separate account for some spending money (with no justification). These are the things that most people fight about. Remember, two people came into the relationship, it takes two people to maintain it.
But most of all, just Love, Love Me Do.
Loving Your Sh*T 