Every relationship has a unique storyline. Like the greatest romances of our day, there is an arc from the first meeting to dramatic denouement. We grow thinking that adult relationships begin with an air of mystery and intrigue, survive through milestones and hardships before drifting into the happily ever after – until they don’t.
So many times I hear a similar story, “It was great. I don’t know what happened…it just went wrong somewhere!” This is when it is time for a reality check. Relationships don’t “just go wrong”. There is a process to them.
Like every great story, every relationship has a beginning, a middle and an end. Sometimes those relationships last a lifetime and beyond. Sometimes those relationships last 15 minutes in a smoky bar. The challenge is that we never know when the middle is…and sometimes we don’t know when the end is. Sometimes, we only acknowledge the end when we look behind us and say “Oh…that was the end.”
If you want to extend your storyline, you have to work at your relationship every single day. You have to attend and be intentional. Don’t focus on the happily ever after. If that is your focus, you won’t find it. The happily ever after is buried in the here and now. When you work on your relationship daily, the middle gets extended further and further out.
If you are working on a relationship or wanting to learn how to be in a relationship, contact Elliott at elliott@drelliottk.com.
