Transcription
Love is an action word. I'mma say that again for the people who didn't catch it the first time I threw it out there. Love is an action word, meaning that in order for love to work, you got to put in the work.
Now, don't get me wrong. It is a beautiful thing when two people come together and they have an instant connection. The conversation flows, their values align, they actually enjoy being around each other, and that like starts turning into love, and that love grows into being in love. But honestly, that's the easy way.
The real work comes in when you're trying to intertwine your lives. When you have to find a balance in work schedules, personal goals, family, friends, children, financial responsibilities, and everything else that life is going to throw your way. That's when the real intentional work comes in it. When you have to be intentional about communication, building and maintaining trust, transparency, developing healthy boundaries, and developing system that helps your relationship function and grow.
But here's the part that not a lot of people want to talk about. When you have built a great system and it has been working for a nice decent amount of time, and when life comes in and does what it does best, start life-ing, and derails the whole system that y'all have in place. Now, what do you do? The two of you are now tasked with going back to the drawing board, figuring out why the system no longer works, and then coming together in agreement to develop a new system to get everything back on track.
Now, let me be clear. I am not talking about relationships that involve any kind of abuse, manipulation, repeated betrayal, or disrespect. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about healthy relationships that are going through a season, because relationships go through seasons. Because they cannot be built on the mindset of when things get a little rocky, I'm out. And that's the part that people are missing. When they hit a challenge, instead of being ready to kick in gear and do the work, they start to question everything. Oh, did I make a mistake? Are we meant to be? Should I just leave?
Because real love is two people who continue to show up and choose each other while trying to figure out all of life's hard stuff together. Because being in love is what starts the relationship. Doing the work is what sustains it.
I'm Dixie and this is Woman of Experience, a safe space for all things women. If this resonates with you, please feel free to like, comment, share, and stick around for a while. And until next time, y'all stay safe.