Wednesday 29 January 2014

What couples need more than anything

Sometimes as couples we take each other for granted. And the longer we have been together, the more prone we are to expect the other to know what the other wants without asking or speaking. Sometimes we don’t see each other because we think we see each other every day. We forget to update each other on what’s going on because we think intuitively we know what’s going on in each other’s lives because we are in each other’s lives every day.
So every once in a while it is very important to carve out time for each other. To really see each other. To really be present with each other and to be in each other’s space without the distractions of everyday life.  To allow us to be free and not clouded by the things we have to do. Fully present in each other’s lives. No children. No work obligations. No thinking about what’s going on over there. But surrendering to the moment. To what’s right in front of us. Us.
Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and we didn't have plans to do anything as a couple as we are planning a family dinner with our children tonight- nothing fancy just the four of us in each other’s company away from everyday life. However when I thought about how much my husband and I have been like two ships passing in the night. Existing in each other’s lives but not fully present with each other, I called him to ask him if he wanted to go for lunch.  At first he had every excuse in the book about why he couldn't go and was even surprised at the suggestion that we could do lunch together because it had been that long since we had taken time out to be together as a couple for lunch.
Eventually he acquiesced and we made a date for a local restaurant – no frills, no extravagance -  just the two of us for lunch - and it turned out to be one of those great moments that will go down in our couple memory books. We took time out of our busy lives as individuals to reconnect as a couple. To really see each other. To really hear each other. To reconnect and it was one of those magical couple moments that is hard to describe but so necessary.
What I learnt from being totally present with my husband was that we really do have  a wonderful relationship. A relationship that is up and down and all over the place sometimes. A relationships that challenges us both but at the same time anchors us both. That we really connect on a level that is much deeper than any surface relationships that sometimes we don’t give each other enough credit for.
I realized our relationship is a relationship built on many years of love and trust and faith and that’s why we are able to weather so many storms together. I also believe our connection existed before we inhabited these physical bodies and probably will exist when we leave this physical plane because we are true soul mates.
We do not have the love that you read about in story books all the time but we have a love that endures, grows and strengthens us. Allowing us to reach those pivotal romantic moments as we did yesterday when we gave each other each other without question, expectation or demand. And that’s what it takes to have an enduring love to be in each other’s presence – fully present and open to each other.
I am so grateful we gave each other to each other yesterday because our time together  allowed me to understand that true love is much deeper and more lasting than romantic love because true love knows that it is the gift of time dedicated to each other that allows us to know what love really is. No frills. Nothing fancy. Just respecting and being present for each other allowing us to remember why we came together in the first place. So important for couples to remember and to reconnect as we did yesterday. And what’s even more important is I realized we are not bad for an old married couple of 21 nearly 22 years particularly when we realize we actually do enjoy each other’s company and love each other in ways indescribable.
A few stolen moments worth a lifetime of joy. Exactly what every couple needs more than anything from time to time.


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