Relationship Tips Through Song by Lynn Lovegreen

 

Since February is Romance Awareness Month, it’s a good time to talk about relationships. While each person has their own style or ways of dealing with others, some things work for most people. Here are my tips for keeping a long-term relationship going. Younger readers might search for the songs online, since I’m showing my age here. 😉

 

Hold on Loosely

As 38 Special sang, “hold on loosely, but don’t let go.” You want to let your love interest know that you care, but don’t cling to them. It’s good to let the other person have their own interests and relationships outside of yours. And it’s important that you have your own life outside of the relationship, too. You’ll both be more well-rounded and healthy, which will enrich the time you spend together. 

 

We Can Work It Out

As The Beatles said, “Life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friends.” Keep the communication lines open, but don’t waste time arguing over minor things. There’s probably some things you do that annoys your love interest too, and life’s too short to dwell on it. Pick your battles, and give each other slack on the small stuff. Practice moments of grace.

 

The End

Again, The Beatles: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” My interpretation of this is that there should be equal give and take in the relationship. It’s a kind of karma—you want to spread the good karma. You take love from that person, and give love back to them. That also goes for time, generosity, and all the other things you want from a love interest. It’s like the Golden Rule, which is a good principle for all relationships, whether it’s your neighbor, friend, child, anyone.

 

These tips have worked for me over the years. I hope this helps someone out there who needed to see them spelled out in a list. 

 

Do you have any tips you’d like to share? Please post in the comments.

 

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for most of her life. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical romance is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. 

 

2022 = 6 - A Relationship Year

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights and choose love and light.

Here we are at the start of a new year. 2022 is a ‘6’ year. 2 + 2 + 2 = 6. I’m certainly not an expert on Numerology so I invite those of you who know more than I do to add your knowledge to this post in the Comments below.

What I do know about the number six is it is about relationships.

So the question then becomes, relationships with whom?

The list could be long or very very short. The very very short list is comprised of one word: Everyone!

What does it take to work on relationships?

That answer can be complex or simple.

Simple is to treat others as we want to be treated. That includes being kind, compassionate, caring, understanding, tolerant, accepting and forgiving among other traits.

Complex, from my perspective, means we spend our energy trying to make other people different instead of accepting them as they are.

One of my beliefs is that we are all on our own path in this lifetime and all of our experiences are opportunities for us to learn and grow as individuals. Those of you who have read my books both fiction and non-fiction as well as previous blog posts over the years know that I see love as having two parts.

The emotion of love is one part but what is even more critical is the behavior piece. Many of us have known or even still know people who say they love us but engage in non-loving behaviors. Dr. William Glasser called those behaviors the 7 Deadly Habits: criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing and rewarding to control. I’d add physicality such as hitting, kicking, pushing, shoving, etc.

None of these choices help our relationships and all of them are an attempt to make someone else change.

Dr. Glasser also had the 7 Caring Habits: supporting, encouraging, listening (to understand rather than counter), accepting, trusting, respecting and negotiating differences. I think you’ll see some repetition from my earlier paragraph on making a relationship work.

Change is not always easy and 2022 gives us a new opportunity to change our choices if we want better relationships. Learning to accept if not love a person who is diametrically opposed to who we are is not always easy. Accepting the truth that the only person’s behavior we can change is our own is Step #1.

What relationships do you want to nurture or improve in 2022? And don’t forget your relationship with you!!!

You can learn more about how to create relationships that work in my Sacred Women’s Circle series.

My Staying Sane in a Crazy World, provides you with a template to create your Personal Staying Sane Plan to help you through the challenging times.

You can find all of my books at your favorite e-book vendor. Be sure to ask your local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

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Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

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© 2022 Judith Ashley