Relationship advice

20 Do's & don'ts of a functional relationship

1. Who you think you are is important. Like attracts like. Think about it. Do you like who you are?...
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Are You Relationship Ready?

So, you want to fall in love? You are certainly old enough and moving well along your chosen career path. Many of your friends are either married or in committed relationships. You have grown weary of the singles scene and the solitary life. Therefore, you must be ready, right?...
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What Went Wrong? When Relationships Go From Hot To Cold

Everything was great. We had been dating for 6 months. We shared the same interests, felt very at ease together, had (often) discussed future plans and had even spent some of the holidays together. Our relationship seemed right on track and just right in general. Then, without warning, he said he "needs some time to think and figure things out. " He stopped calling and rarely returned my calls. When he did, I was often met with silence on the other end of the line. When I asked "what happened", I just got a verbal run around of excuses about how busy he is and/or how much stress he is under right now. What happened? What did I do? I don't know what to think...
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Fixing the intimacy in your marriage

With the way that intimacy has been stereotyped in marriage, it is a wonder that people still get married at all. Most people adamantly believe that sex after marriage goes downhill. Certainly passion moves into other levels, sometimes much better than in your single days, but often into something which can sometimes not be called passion at all. Pledging to yourself that your marriage, or long-term relationship, will be different, will not solve the problem of routine intimacy, or none at all. There are few things which will help put the steaminess back into your private life again though.
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Intimacy fears and our reward for facing them

A relationship with an intimate partner provides for us a window through which we can view parts of ourselves of our innermost being which seldom see the light of day. Herein lies intimacy's reward as well as the root of our fear of it: because what if we don't like what we see?...
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Lovers to avoid

1. The Roll-On, Roll-Off Romeo

I named these guys after roll-on, roll-off car ferries because all they do is roll on top of you, do the business to their satisfaction and roll off you again....
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Depression and its effect on our relationships

Depression adversely affects every aspect of our lives - including our relationships. Indeed, when one partner is depressed, the relationship may suffer so badly that it doesn't survive. But, in fact, a good relationship is very therapeutic for a depressed person; because when we're really low we need love, support and closeness more than ever - even if we can't show it ourselves...
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Hooking up vs. lasting love

These terms have become all too familiar in today's dating world. Are they words that you can relate to? Have you lived them in some way? If so, how have you felt about the experience(s) both during and after?...
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Healing the Mid-Life Love Crisis

All I wanted was to fall in love and live happily ever after. The End. Except it wasn't that simple. At forty-something, I was hardly "on the shelf", but I was the veteran of two divorces. That gave rise to plenty of self doubt. It gave rise to another more sinister, subtle symptom too: I didn't trust the opposite sex not to hurt me again. And guess what? Since the women I was dating were in a similar age bracket, and also veterans of painful relationship break ups, heartache, heartbreak, divorce, loss or grief of some kind to do with the opposite sex, their fear ? that dreaded fear of rejection - echoed mine. Result? An almost cast iron guarantee that love cannot flourish! You might as well scatter seed on concrete and expect to reap a wheat field...
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Getting Back Into Dating

As the famous song goes, breaking up is hard to do! After the collapse of a long-term relationship, the prospect of diving back into the dating pool is daunting, to say the least. If it has been a long time since you last went on a date, you�re probably nervous and thinking that you're not ready for the task ahead. However, there are some steps you can take to ease yourself back into the singles scene.
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When Arguing Gets Us Nowhere

Most of us have had this feeling at one time or another in our relationships: we're angry, and we feel entirely justified in that emotion. We aren't about to back down, or perhaps examine our own complicity in the problem, even though we may know (deep inside) that either of those actions would probably bring us back into harmony with our partners.
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Happiness And The Single Person; Changing Myth Into Reality

Does the expression "single and happy" sound like an oxymoron to you? Are you weary of others (especially other singles) reinforcing the belief that singles can't be happy? Do you find yourself always planning for the future or putting things off until you "are married and settled? Do you often have a sense that the intense feelings of happiness and joy can't really be experienced unless you "have someone to share it with?" Do you just feel there is not enough time and other necessary resources available to the single person to pursue experiences that can bring true happiness...
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On Saying Goodbye to a Drama King

Charles left her, just left altogether with no satisfactory explanation. Just announced, after six months of a hot-house infatuation that had swept her off her feet, "Sorry, Miranda, this isn't working" -- said it not even kindly, at that -- and said he wanted out. He wasn't interested in hearing why Miranda thought that in fact it was working; that it was a relationship and relationships needed a little working out now and again. No, he didn't want to hear it. For him, it was the end. Discussion over...
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