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To: Marie
We're looking for someone who wants to be where we want to be in 10 years. We're looking for someone we're comfortable with who shares our values.

Who isn't? But there has to be a reason why we so seldom find them. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we don't know WHERE we're going to be in 10 years. Things happen. Today's plans can fade in an instant. And values can change too. The worldview of an indestructible 25-year-old isn't the worldview of a creaky 55-year-old, or a menopausal 45-year-old.

I have no idea what makes a good relationship. I am the world's worst judge of character, and I've believed way, way too many women. I won't do it again.

114 posted on 02/08/2007 8:18:26 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: IronJack
A lot of it has to do with the fact that we don't know WHERE we're going to be in 10 years.

The main problem I see is that people don't honestly know themselves. It's easy to paint an ideal, then try to hold yourself to that ideal and delude yourself into believing that you can actually attain it. It's hard to see what you're really capable of and to know yourself well enough to say, "I'd really be *happier* as a plumber than a doctor. This is the kind of life I want and this is really what I need in a mate."

We look for mates that fit that ideal of ourselves, not the reality.

I have a friend who recently got divorced. In one conversation we were having she was trying to figure out where things went wrong. I said, "Honey, it was wrong when he proposed and you agreed. He's always had aspirations for the big house and the big car and the big paycheck. He took one look at you and saw a tall, leggy, slender trophy wife. What he didn't know was that you were happier fishing in cutoffs than at a ladies' luncheon. You so badly wanted to be loved that you said yes to the first guy who'd have you. Neither of you respected each other's values and, over time, that translated to a lack of respect for each other. That killed whatever love was there in the beginning."

Now, had he chosen the trophy wife with the same values and desires that he had, things still wouldn't have gone well. Because what he failed to realize was that *he* was never capable of getting the life that he wanted to much.

127 posted on 02/08/2007 8:42:52 PM PST by Marie (Unintended consequences.)
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To: IronJack

I have no idea what makes a good relationship. I am the world's worst judge of character, and I've believed way, way too many women. I won't do it again.

My man, these are the wisest, most honest words I've EVER seen on FR.


167 posted on 02/09/2007 11:59:03 AM PST by hardworking (Vote for Hillary and show your support for psychopaths.)
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