Love, Work, and working on love

This article is two-fold.

The old saying “Working on or at love” and the idea of work (as a profession) and the concept of love.

I would like to start with the former.

The saying that one has to work on love, or rather more aptly work at loving someone…

This is a concept that I have always heard of but never understood.

What does it really mean?

My latest epiphany is that one does not really work on love. Love exists and is a lot of times unexpected.

You don’t have to work on the “love” part itself, that will be there.

What you do have to work on, is the little things concerning love.

In my personal life, this means paying attention to the other person and what they are saying. It means remembering the small details and important dates.

This is something that does not happen easily for me. I believe that the human race is self-centered and the main driving force for us is survival. This doesn’t mean we are the old “hunter gatherers” from times of old. But we do want to live better, and we drive ourselves forward with this in mind. A lot of us will do this for another person. By getting a better job, you can support your family more easily. But in a sense we are doing it for ourselves. We are selfish.

But by doing something for someone else, not because you should, but because you can… now that is “working” on love…

By remembering little details and commenting on them later, by spending time with that person and not being distracted by Tv, or you phone… that is “working” on love.

By finding out what the other person likes to eat, and surprising them with it… its these little things that make a big difference in how your relationship will grow.

Now this goes hand in hand with another topic for me, and one that I am guilty of.

We are all in an age driven by our careers. Work for a lot of us has become an all-consuming thing, with standard work hours ranging from 8-14 hours a day. With these hours comes the stress of performance, and this also brings about another phenomenon… You tend not to switch off and bring your work home with you.

I must admit that I am guilty of this. All your problems and stress go home with you and becomes the topic of discussion for the next couple of hours… If this happens enough, then you end up complaining about work to the other person in your life, and you are perceived as negative. To the point where the other person dreads you coming home, because “what went wrong today and what is the next complaint about”.

Even if you do not do this, you still end up worrying about work and your workload for the next day. Which is a distraction and you are not being attentive to your loved ones. The stress of work will affect your mood at home too. Your emotions will not be conducive to a loving environment, and if your significant other is attentive, they will pick up on it.

The solution is easy, but hard to maintain. You need to leave work at work. Once you get home you are in a safe space that exists outside of work and should be spent with loved ones. Even if you need to get a punching bag or a form of sport to work out all your stress first, before you enjoy the company of your loved ones, then do it.

A lot to think about, and a lot of changes may need to happen to bring this about…

But if you take it one day at a time, and concentrate on only getting it right for that day, it will eventually become habit and your home life will be much easier… for you and your loved ones.

I will give you my all

I will give you my all...

Do we really understand what that means?

This has always been a simple phrase in my mind, one that makes sense in a relationship that is serious. It simply means that you will try and work hard everyday to be the person the significant other needs. You will be there for them, laugh with them, cry with them... you get the point...

But with age comes a bit more wisdom, and I finally understand what this means. And also with a bit of help from Silverjade for spiritual and life guidance.
It really does mean you will give them everything.
The first part of what I said is still true, you will be everything for that other person. But giving everything also has a dark side. It means they get all your bad habits too, all your foul mood days. You will obviously try to be as nice as possible at all times, but everyone has an off day now and then. So that means the significant other gets that too.

Now I really suggest that you only commit to this level in a serious relationship, commit to the point of giving the other person your all. If you are lucky, and so few of us are, you will find your soul mate. The one person that will accept who you are. Really accept all of who you are. If that happens, you don't need to be changing yourself to be the person the other needs. You can just be you. And that is good enough for the other.

And with this level of acceptance comes a deeper understanding of true love. A love where you are free. Free to be and do what you want, and in return letting the other person be who they are meant to be. And with this freedom comes a sense of belonging. a sense that you are both free but choose the other person to share your life with.

"I will give you my all" is a lot deeper than I originally thought, and hopefully some day all my readers can feel this feeling of giving all you have to another... the good, the bad... everything.

Inter relationship power sturggles

My topics all seem to flow into each other. And this is purely because of how I perceive my surroundings and how I learn more every day.

So today’s experience / lesson is about how we change for another person.

I have made some new friends in the last couple of months, and watching their interactions with loved ones has given me a new perspective on relationships.

Why is it that one person will always back down from a fight?

Why is it that one person will change their thinking and the way they react for another person?

Does it mean that person loves the other more? I think not. I think you get two types of people in a relationship. The people pleasers and the rocks.

Please note that this is an over simplification, and that there are many variants, but for the purposes of this blog, I am focusing on what I think are the two main personalities.

Silverjade, who has helped me understand the intricacies of relationships and has helped me through a lot of life changes, will hopefully agree with me.

Firstly, the rocks:

They are the immovable objects. They end up usually being the “rock” in the relationship. For them to be the rock, they cannot waiver. They cannot go back on any decisions or choices. That would show weakness and a flaw in the rock. It will damage the relationship because the foundation (rock) isn’t strong enough to support both people.

The rocks are normally the ones that do not falter, and appear to be strong at all times. You will never see them show wild emotions. Everything is always controlled.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I am saying that these people are needed at times, and I don’t want it to sound like they are emotionless creatures that want to dominate at all times. This is not the case, and I suspect that they are vulnerable at times and also prone to self-doubt.

Secondly, the people pleasers:

I myself fall under this category. You feel that you would do anything to make the people around you happy, and even more so for the one you love. The problem with this attitude is you end up molding yourself around the other person’s life. You become what they need you to be. Or at least what you think they need you to be. While you are becoming what you think is needed in the relationship, you end up losing yourself. I know, I have done this before. And in doing so, the other person invariably falls out of love with you, because you are not the person that they once met.

Losing yourself for the sake of another is the biggest mistake one can make.

These blogs are my journey back to becoming myself, after a relationship where I changed. Where I thought I was being what the relationship and the other person needed.

Again, don’t misunderstand, as I am sure some of you reading will see the pleasers as weak willed and always bending to other peoples wills. Not true. We choose to change for the better of a relationship. We are like a young sapling tree, still able to twist and bend in the wind. But definitely not weak.

Now for my opinion on this subject, and my solution.

I think that society has forced us to fit into these roles, as this is the “norm” and how we should deal with everyday life.

We either have to be the rocks, or the pleasers.

I say no. Be perfectly you. Be the only thing you can be.

You.

Be the rock at times, be the pleaser when it is required. But be yourself. That way both parties in the relationship can support each other and be a unit that can grow in love. That no challenge can’t be overcome by working together.

By changing this one dynamic in a relationship, there is no more power struggle. No one will have to hold the relationship up, and no one will have to  change who they are in the relationship.