Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Lasting Love Requires Compromise

What we all seek in a loving relationship is happiness, that magical joyous feeling, that makes us thankful to be alive. In a long lasting loving relationship, happiness is what we offer, but we often do this through compromise.

That is because we can't bring happiness to our loved one if we are determined to always be right, unable to accept any viewpoint but our own. It is worse yet if we begin "correcting" the one we love, telling them they are "wrong" and even worse, "correcting" them in front of others.

What joy can there possibly be in hurting the self-esteem of another person by blurting out that their perspective is "wrong." The wise and loving person instead keeps an open mind.

Consideration for the feelings of another will tell us when to speak and when to be silent and it will remind us to be encouraging rather than be critical. After all, no-one wins an argument because all an argument will do is create resentment.

Instead, we must remember that our purpose is mutual happiness and if we can often compromise, we will go a long way to meeting that objective and to having a love affair to treasure throughout the course of our lives.

Dick

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