Subscription
Enter your e-mail address to receive this newspaper column each weekday.
My strict privacy policy will keep your email address 100% safe and secure.
Five super-human powers we all possess, but some ignore
Power 1: Self Definition (day one)
Every one of us has the ability to let the world know exactly we are and exactly who we are not.
This is the power of Self Definition.
It is the capacity to be involved in the development of your own environment, relationships, and ambitions.
“We have been together for 6 years. We do not live together. We do not sleep together because of our faith. He says he wants to wait until his kids are finished with college. First it was high school. He feels his daughter would not be comfortable with me living there. This year she put an ornament on the Christmas tree of her dad and his ex. I got upset about it. It’s just so weird. It was a slap in the face to me. I let it go as I do everything. I asked if we could we at least get engaged so people would leave me alone. He talks about our future but does not want to set a date. He gets mad at me if I talk about it. We are both 53. The ornament really upset me. Should I be upset?”
This relationship is for his convenience. He’s duping you. While you are at the mercy of his children’s level of comfort you will never be his wife.
If, and when, you find your own unique voice and stop letting things go, what his daughter places on the tree will be irrelevant.
You are in charge of your future – stop believing and living as if it is in his hands.
“I am with a man I have known years. A year ago he was involved with another woman who was already living with another man. He chose her over me when I confronted them together. Within two days he had moved back in with me after living near her for a year. Since then he has treated me poorly but has not seen her. I doubt seriously that he loves me. He is not that sexually interested in me as I think he was in her. To me, that means he is still interested in her. I think he is here for his convenience. What should I do?”
Trust. Kindness. Listening. Shared adventures and challenges. Interest in, and support for individual pursuits. Enduring respect. Taking time (almost) every day to listen to each other. Focused interest and focused attention. Eye contact. Absolute confidentiality. Integrity. Truth. Laughter. Accountability. Praise. Recognition for things accomplished. Conversations. Planning holidays. Escaping routines to be together. Phone calls, text messages to keep each other updated about important and unimportant matters.
Healthy self love underpins all authentic love.
The evidence of a lack of healthy self love within any person will permeate all his or her relationships.
A person who does not love himself or herself in a healthy manner will:
1. Believe he or she can love another into desired change. (“I will love him out of his ….”)
2. Lose herself or himself to a relationship. (“There’s no ‘me’ anymore, I love her so much.”)