HOW TRUE IS “HAPPILY EVER AFTER”?

It’s authors, Don Migue RUIZ JR. and Heatherash AMARA, in their book, enunciated these three little words “HAPPILY EVER AFTER” so that an entire universe of expectations about relationships is created. Through this fairy-tale concept and others like it, the idea is planted in our minds that once we have a committed relationship, our lives will be perfect , and we will have finally “arrived” at our destination.

But of course we all know relationships are a bit more complicated than that.

As human beings, most of us yearn for fulfilling relationship, as they are an integral part of our journey. They provide unlimited ways for us to learn, grow, thrive, and have fun, as well as serve as the foundation on which most of us build a family and community. Yet, as we know, relationships are not always “a bed of roses”.

Romantic relationships can take us from sublime ecstasy to the deepest despair with just a word or look from our beloved. They can lift us to great heights of clarity, passion, and openheartedness or drop us suddenly into a pit filled with fear, grief, confusion, and judgement.

Romantic relationships can prove especially challenging in these changing times. The institution of marriage began as a financial and social arrangement and was not focused on love. While these rigid definition of relationships did not bring happiness, they did bring a kind of familiar stability and continuity.

Today we are entering a whole new world of relationships-particularly romantic relationships. Often, we choose partners in a flush of hormones and possibility, only to find that when the spark of new love dissipates, we have no idea how to communicate or navigate the challenges that arise. And because we are not taught how to be creative, curious artists in relationships, we get bogged down in our expectations and play out the same patterns and conflicts even as the relationships themselves change.

Stay tuned… as remain with us on this blog you will learn all you need to learn. Kudos!