What is Love to You?

In “Married Life of a Rebel Life,” a section of the blog Oliva’s Beauty and Madness, Olivia reveals that she once thought she didn’t believe in love but has come to realize that her definition of it simply differed from what she had been fed about from outside sources. Instead of associating love with infatuation, giddiness and chills, Olivia believes it to be more like conscientiousness in action when dealing with your partner and that it can also be those certain compromises in life. Here’s one of the examples from her list of observations on true love in action: “…It’s when a person who’s used to having things done her way suddenly pauses to think about what the other person might think….” For Olivia’s complete list, go to her blog at Olivia’s Beauty and Madness.

Look into my Eyes

No one likes to fight with their lover. It’s painful to the emotions, the ego and so much more. Tina of the Think Simple Now blog reminds us that those fights carry the potential to put at risk all that we have built up together with the one we love. Tina shares her personal experiences on the subject and offers up a fairly well thought out article on what she and her partner were able to learn from what transpired between them. It reminds me that each experience in life is a gift and an opportunity to grow and expand and hopefully results in increased wisdom. In “How to Keep a Relationship,” Tina not only offers a breakdown of what roles we may be playing in disagreements gone wrong, but a list of solutions. I really like the “Look into my Eyes” method: If your lover is acting irrationally or is deeply upset, ask them to look into your eyes, even if for only half a minute. While they are looking into your eyes, “look back into theirs and imagine you are passing an infinite amount of love toward them. Through their eyes, look for their soul. You may be upset too, just surrender to the moment, take some deep breaths, and focus only on their eyes and how beautiful they are.”

One commenter to the post shared that what has really helped him and his wife get through trying times was to write letters to each other. This way you can get your point across with better listening, and without the interruptions that are so common in blowouts. There are many solutions on Tina’s list and I encourage you to check out her article at thinksimplenow.com.