Love: The Story and Reality
I appreciate a good love story.
And if you’re human, and reading this, I bet you do too. There’s a reason films like Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, and The Notebook are so beloved, and why blogs like Brooklyn Sherman’s ‘The Way We Met’ go viral. Good love stories have the power to change lives, rekindle faith in humanity, and inspire hope.
And since the question, ‘how did you meet’ will never go away, and we will tell our love story(ies) over and over again, I believe everyone (secretly or not so secretly) wants to have a good, romantic, or perfectly well suited one.
For me, the love story that first played out was like a real-life version of American Pie: two choir kids fell in love, became everyone’s favorite couple, got married, and were destined to be together forever…
Until we weren’t, and split up after 11 years.
You see, sometimes our stories don’t unfold as planned, or remain as idealistic, romantic, and as aligned as they once were – so while a great love story never gets old, it’s important not to get so attached to our stories (and how we hope they’ll pan out) – that we aren’t being real about the state of the relationship today.
In other words, while it feels good to get drunk on love, it’s important not to get so intoxicated that we lose sight of reality, and set ourselves up for extended pain, and worse hangovers. Know what I mean?
To ensure your current love story is the right one for you, here are 3 things to look at…
What’s the story you tell others, and what’s the story you are telling yourself about your relationship?
What’s the reality of the situation?
Is it as strong as it once was? Better? Worse?
What are your wants, needs, and non-negotiables?
Are they being met in your current situation?
By assessing these three elements, you can gain the insight to elevate/strengthen/sustain a relationship, or identify if it’s time to graduate and move on, opening up the space for something perhaps even more magical and storybook.
Wishing you a love-filled week!!
Mucho amor,
Mark
PS: This week, I interviewed Brooklyn Sherman about her viral Insta-blog, “The Way We Met.” We dive deep into love stories, and Brooklyn has some very interesting stories of her own, so to hear her wisdom (and about her love life), check out Episode 234 of People Being Real!