Every time I would ask her how it was going, she would say something like, “Good, but...” and then she would talk about some issue she had with him. He was late a lot, he didn’t want to meet her friends, he was distant one night. So basically, every time I asked her about him, the answer was always that they were still together, BUT...
“He’s great,” she said, gushing with happiness. And, she stopped right there. She didn’t say, “but...”
Her response got me thinking about the difference between healthy romantic relationships and those that most likely won’t work out: the word “But!”
I truly believe that when a relationship is good (healthy) there are no buts. I’m not saying that healthy relationships are perfect. They aren’t. But rather that when someone is truly making you happy, you are only sharing good news about that person and your relationship.
My dating advice is, when in a relationship, LISTEN to yourself when you are talking to your friends about the person. Listen to the words that come out of your mouth. That says everything about whether or not the relationship is making you happy.
It’s easier to stay in a relationship sometimes, even if you know it isn’t right (and you say “but” a lot). Reasons for staying include the fact that you care deeply about the person, you don’t want to get back out there in the dating world, you are comfortable in the relationship, you don’t think you can do any better, or you are convinced there aren’t any better men (or women) out there. So, you try to fit a square peg in a round hole, and you keep dating him or her, and you end up frustrated and unhappy because the same “buts” keep coming up over and over again.
You say things to your friends like, “He’s really good, but we fight a lot,” or “He’s good but he kind of drinks a lot” or “I love him but he never wants to go out with me on weekends” or “Things are pretty good but I don’t know if I see a future.”
On the flip side, if a friend asks you, “How is your new guy?” and you answer in one of these ways, keep him:
“How is your new guy?”
1. the best
2. a total sweetheart
3. Great, he surprised me yesterday and showed up at my house with lunch.
4. We are having so much fun!
5. I just love him.
6. Kind and caring and giving.
7. I’m just really happy.
8. I’ve been waiting for him all my life.
I believe that relationships develop what I call “a theme” very early on. In other words, the stage is set almost from the start, and whatever the issues are, they will be there for the entire relationship.
That isn’t a bad thing and that doesn’t mean you are with the wrong person. What I am saying is, in most cases, your theme will not change, and so if you want it to, you should break up with the person.
In any case, I truly believe your gut will speak to you and tell you if the buts are too big for the relationship to truly fulfill you.
I remember sitting on a plane next to some random guy one time and he said to me, “When a relationship is right, it will be easy.” I never forgot that. What does “easy” mean? No buts
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