simple love

https://www.poll-maker.com/poll3472546xD760EA11-105 https://lms.redrover.org/eportfolios/18/Home/_Dont_Work_Out_with_Your_BoyGirlfriend https://hypothes.is/users/okcupid https://www.preceden.com/timelines/712374-okcupid https://my.desktopnexus.com/Ninaman/journal/some-guys-are-spending-30k-a-year-on-app-dating-31154/ https://renai.us/game/delaware-romance https://blog.xinmedia.com/article/191955 http://www.digthedirt.com/contributions/review/232901-Good-Pick-Up-Lines-To-Use-On-Girls http://www.digthedirt.com/contributions/review/232911-I-left-my-husband-fell-in-love-and-now-found-out-that-my-husband-is-dying-of-cancer https://www.mindtalk.com/channel/love_and_relationships/post/my-husband-sends-his-dad-money-1367107803113591467.html https://adguru.net/en/from-dating-to-girlfriend-boyfriend/94487?preview=1 https://invertnet.org/members/7071/blog/2021/03/the-problem-with-dating

There were a lot of thoughtful, insightful, cheeky responses, including Chaotic Kitten’s that won the 2nd prize trophy of an Amazon e-gift card. (You know, to get my Border’s card I had to give a mailing address to a self-described aspiring pimp, and Kitten only had to give an email address. Who was the real winner here?) I read all of the entries (kudos to everyone), and one particular point was brought up time and again – a successful relationship, where success means the partnership has real staying power, starts with you loving yourself. I couldn’t agree more. That’s a major ingredient for empty-house happiness, and knowing yourself and being happy with who you are is huge, in general. But a relationship that ends in break-up can be considered a success if you learned something from the experience. My favorite line posted to the competition came from Taoist Biker who said this about partners in a successful relationship: they treat each other and the “entity” that is their relationship as something of value. Reading that made me think – as a divorced dad I sometimes hide behind my parenting role and don’t jump completely into a new relationship. Fear of getting hurt again? Fear of screwing things up? Maybe it’s time to remind myself that a long-term romantic partnership truly is a thing of value. (Fodder for a future post.) Thanks, Honey and Lance for running a great contest, and for the first-prize Borders gift card. As I shamelessly crow to the world about this award, I was just wondering – do either of you have a last name of Pulitzer or Nobel? Doesn’t hurt to ask… Thanks again!