Page 12 - SILFlip

doing the work of loving your partner has to take your mind off expecting something in return. If you both make the commitment, receiving in return happens naturally, automatically. That doesn’t mean you should be dumb enough to enter into a love relationship where you do all the work. It means that your mutual commitment to one another should relieve you of the worry that you will have to do all the work. If it doesn’t it might not be much of a relationship at all.
There are times when love makes it easy for us to do things without the expectation of getting anything in return—and there are times when it is really hard. Loving without the expectation of getting loved back is one of the things that transforms people in love—but there is more to it than just that. Both partners must commit to loving the other unselhishly and the presence of that commitment creates partnership and longevity. If I am showing you that I am willing to give myself to you without the expectation of reciprocity and if you do that too, that is a powerful and transformational energy our partnership. More on that as we travel along.
If you want to learn to do the work involved in developing and nurturing fulhilling relationships stick with me. You will have to hear stories. Lots of stories. I tell a lot of stories — it’s the way I teach. I will try to make my stories sound like I am not just interested in talking about myself (not all my stories are about me) but I might sometimes fail in this regard. I am interested in myself!
Staying in Love: Secret Recipes For Making Love Last 12