RA: Being Together for the Right Reasons

I found a lengthy article that enumerates the best relationship advice given by couples who have been together for more than 20 years. Babycakes and I have only been together for 5 years and things are pretty steady. However, steady isn’t necessarily a good thing. I want us to be able to grow together as partners but more importantly as individuals. So I want to use the article I found to allow myself some quiet introspection about our relationship. There are 13 items in the article which I want to address one post at a time because I want to thoroughly think about each piece of advice that was given. You can find the article here.

The first advice is:

BE TOGETHER FOR THE RIGHT REASONS

“the only reason you should ever be with the person you’re with is because you simply love being around them. It really is that simple.”

In the beginning, I thought it was difficult to figure out the reasons I choose to be with babycakes. I mean, I know I love him and I enjoy his company, but I always asked myself, “that’s it? Shouldn’t there be more reasons?”

But as our relationship progressed, we shared more and more moments together that reveal much about ourselves. I started to appreciate him as an individual which gave me more concrete reasons on why I'm with him. I choose to be with him because:

1. He works hard which makes me want to work hard and achieve my goals.
2. He’s reliable.
3. He makes me laugh (but I’m still the funnier one. Let’s be honest here.)
4. He’s intelligent.
5. He’s honest.
6. He has strong opinions. Our opinions often clash though.

Of course, there are a lot of things about him that I don’t particularly like, but I still respect who he is and what he brings into our relationship.