60 years ago, when human lives were predicted in advance, e.g. we grew up and remained within the same socioeconomic class till the rest of our lives, we had the same jobs for decades, our gender defined either we became providers or were destined to raise kids at home, etc., in most cases, the only thing we could actually choose was who we build our family with. (We will not talk about prearranged marriages in here). So the family back then became the source of happiness. Sometimes, it was the only source of our happiness; it was a treasure and was cherished like something special and sacred.
Today, we see individualistic society putting its foot down; you can do everything you want in life! You are the best and will achieve ANYTHING you want!! Now we have multiple sources of happiness, and those who we choose to be in relationships with, are no longer special nor sacred; they are replaceable… And if our partners don’t suit us well, we will find another one; no biggie..
However, those of us, who decide to fight for the old familial values, find themselves in constant struggle; “Do we make the sacrifices or we have to stay “true” to ourselves and if our partner is not ok with that, may be it’s not a good partner for us at all?”.
“Isn’t it the balance of both?” -screams the public. Yes indeed, but what parts of the “true” self should be kept and to what extent the sacrifices within the relationships should be made?
Today, there is no right or wrong answer. No one can dictate how our love life should look like.
However, the ability to put one’s self in the shoes of our partner and to have respect for our own choices as well as for our loved one, are probably the only two things that must be practiced daily in any romantic relationship. And don’t forget about feelings too. Trusting and listening to our hearts is probably what we lack tremendously in our very busy world.
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And, I love you!