Obscure Advice About Love and Relationships

They are counter-intuitive.

Atleast in my experience. (One should really ask my Grandmother, who drove her relationship for 53 years with my Grandfather before he died)

Most people judge relationships by how they're treated. What they get. How they feel. How they are feeling. How the other person makes us feel. And true, when it's firing on all cylinders, a good relationship brings a comfort and satisfaction that soothes.

But that outlook won't cut the mustard. One has to be in a relationship to give love to the other person, without want in return. That's difficult sometimes. Everyone leaves drawers open, snores, fails to put away their razor or vitamins, or dishes. Everyone is flawed.

Not too many people are happy riding around in an old beat up car, doors smashed in from snow drifts, ceiling falling down from age and flapping in the wind, windshield cracked, smoke coming out of the exhaust. Most people are a little embarrassed by a POS car. But that's every relationship. They're simply POS cars with drivers. And the driver is always you. The point is to let go and love that old car. To wash over the dents, to fill it up trusting it'll get you home in spite of the clunk and nashing sound it was making when you shut it down. If you're happy there at the pump with your POS, you're half of a happy relationship. Your significant other is also the driver of the other half of the relationship, which to him or her, feels like they're behind the wheel of a car with no A/C, static in the speakers, a glove box that won't shut, and a nasty stain in the back seat that has a stench on the hot days.

So I guess the trick is to accept and love. To simply love because that's what you do, not because that's what you want in return. Relationships aren't vending machines. They're POS cars. Drive and smile.