Who among us hasn't received advice at one time or another about relationships? The title of this piece was advice that was offered to me many years ago when I was "between marriages". The person who offered this advice was, I believe, speaking from experience, and was trying to be helpful and make sure I did not make the same mistake.
While a degree of emotional baggage is to be expected in any relationship, the point I think he was trying to make was that everyone needs to identify a point in a relationship beyond which they will not go. To quote Dirty Harry, "A man's got to know his limitations." We all have different tolerances, perceptions, and expectations, so that point may vary for many of us. My friend viewed himself as relatively stable (at least most of the time), so the boundary for him the boundary was based upon himself.
Some of us can be a bit fussy in setting expectations of others in a relationship, such as: college graduate, nice teeth, not fat, not ugly (whatever that means to you), intelligent in discussions, rich, respectful, nice car/house, kids or no kids, religious (or not), good cook, nice wardrobe, good job, and a host of others.
While these expectations may work for you, it might not be a bad idea to also incorporate my friends advice. It worked for him; it will probably work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment