It’s a well-worn cliche but love really does set people free. It really does seek another’s highest good. At least in the early stages, love ought to be more fun than feel like really hard work.
Encourage Freedom
However close you may be as spouses or lovers or to a best friend, nobody wants to feel monitored or compelled to reply instantly to calls or texts. However much you may love hearing from each other nobody wants to feel anxious every time there is a text or an email or a phone call.
Encourage Space
Everyone desires space to think and to plan. We all need independence, time to be carefree, to relax and to not feel the pressure of carrying the load of an intense relationship. Autonomy is a God-given desire living within us. When it is squelched or infringed upon it doesn’t feel good no matter how much love may be in the mix. Armies invade, love doesn’t.
Embody Trust
Nobody wants to feel obligated, guilty, on-edge, or feel surrounded by egg-shells or landmines. No one wants to watch every word, monitor every thought or be grilled about every feeling and thought. No matter how close you are nobody wants every move to be questioned, every word to be analysed, and every response to be assessed.
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