Day 1 of Love and Relationships

It’s a new week so we’re looking at a new topic -- Love and Relationships. In six days we celebrate Valentine’s Day. On February 14th we typically focus on hearts and flowers and romance but the real St Valentine was about a much deeper love – a lasting love. He was martyred (believed to be beheaded) for secretly performing marriages for young couples at a time in Roman history when marriage was illegal. Apparently the government believed that unmarried men made better soldiers for their wars.  So this week in honor of Valentine’s Day and St. Valentine, we’ll explore love and relationships -- what makes them work and some traits of healthy ones.

Like our lives that are made up of the little things we do every day, or our bodies that are made up of the things we do or don’t do – eat or don’t eat, relationships are everyday interactions or absence of interactions. It’s the way we treat each other, the things we make time for and the things we don’t that connect or disconnect us and define our relationships.

You may have heard of Dr. John Gottman. He observed couples in everyday situations and predicted whether they would stay together with remarkable accuracy.  We will be exploring some of his observations as well as some other important relationship findings. For the most part, the traits of healthy relationships are not exclusive to romantic or marriage relationships so we can apply them to other important relationships.

Remember, our relationships are not one dimensional. They are play and work and all the little routines and rituals we practice. We can begin to notice the everyday ways we balance all of these things with the important people in our lives.

Tomorrow, we’re going to look at maybe the most important thing in a relationship and it might not be what we expect.  Wednesday, we have our interview with Shannon Cunningham LeBlanc of Paradise Vacation Escapes. She shares her own journey toward a successful relationship and some important tools and tips for our own relationships.

If you have a question or comment about our episode or anything Rockin’ Life, please check out our website rockinlife.co and be sure to subscribe to Rockin’ Life with Colleen Crain in iTunes or Stitcher Radio. It helps others find the show.  I love it when you share this show and I really love it when you say hello.  Thanks so much for listening today. Have a great day and we’ll talk again tomorrow.