Category Archives for "Questions"

0 How to tell if your relationship is getting more mature or stale

PERFECTION asks:

It’s been 10 months already with my beloved girlfriend and some things are kind of  different. We still hang out, have dates, kiss and all those intimate things, but in social media it’s kind of lowkey. She’s not mentioning me that much, yet she still posts something about us, no more flood of likes.  Anyway, my question is how can I tell if we both have grown into our relationship more strong and mature than before, rather than its fading away? What’s the difference?

Hi PERFECTION –

I have an answer for you, but it’s not exactly answering your question.  

The fact is, you are a deeply questioning person.  That’s why we get along so well!  Other people look at a situation, see it in the simplest way possible, and assume they’re correct, and don’t give it another thought.

That’s not you.  And it never will be.

You are a questioner, and a wonderer, and yes, a worrier!  You will always look at situations and say “It looks like ________, but it also could be ___________, and it even might be _____________, or something else I haven’t even thought of!”

And because of that, you are questioning whether your relationship getting more relaxed, less anxious, is a sign of build-up or break-down.  

And here’s the bad answer:  I don’t know!

But I’ll make a guess.  I’m going to guess it’s Both!

As relationships become more stable, some excitement is lost.  When Handsome first brought me home from the pound I was terrified he wouldn’t like me, and so thrilled about him, and making mistakes like peeing in the house that made him angry, and he was just as worried about me.  But then things got better.  Way better.  I knew the rules and followed them, and I knew he loved me and wasn’t going to send me back.  And he trusted that I was going to stick around and mostly do what he said.

Which was wonderful… and kind of boring.  So then it got to where I might not care whether he was in the house or not, or he didn’t worry if he had to stay away longer.  We started taking each other for granted.  And then little things that annoyed us about each other (my shedding, or his hugging me too tight) got to mean more to us.  And at times we didn’t even feel we totally liked each other!

But then we’d realize we were the best thing that had ever happened in our lives, and suddenly adore each other even better than before.

And this has happened more times than I can count – and maybe more times than Handsome can!

So what should you do?  If you think your relationship is losing a little spark, do something to make it more exciting again.  I know it’s hard during this lockdown, but maybe take her to see something neither of you have seen before, or tell her something about you that she doesn’t know.  Whatever might help.

And here’s the big deal, PERFECTION – couples need to do this kind of thing all through the happiest of marriages.  It’s very important, and more common than you can imagine.

So what makes me so very happy about your letter is that you guys are THAT good!  Good enough to worry about how to keep the excitement up!

I couldn’t be happier.  I hope that’s true of you and her as well!

All my best,

Shirelle

0 How to move past an idealized love that didn’t work out

Icarus to Fly asks:

I deeply love a girl. I had been in relationship with her. She wanted a break last summer. Since then we talked every day on regular basis. But now she is into a senior. They are together. What should I do to earn her back?
Recently I commented on one of her post, she deleted my comment as her current boyfriend poked her about me. I feel lost. I need help to get things right.

Hi Icarus to Fly –

You are experiencing something we all go through in life.  Yes, even us dogs. 

We all know, starting very young, what it’s like to want something we can’t have.  Every child wants ice cream at a time no one will give it to them.  Every dog wants a small animal they can’t catch.  And the smartest children want every puppy they ever meet, many which of course live with other people who would never give them up!

We also know what it’s like to feel something is ours.  A toy we were given, a bed we sleep in.  Or a parent or caretaker.  “That’s MY mommy!” we’ll hear, a child’s most impassioned cry – or the yelp of a dog when its person comes home and embraces them, making us feel complete.

These are perfectly fine emotions.  If we didn’t want things outside us we’d starve to death, and if we didn’t have things we consider our own, we’d have no attachments at all.

The problem comes when they cross over.  I just hate it when my human friend Handsome fawns over another dog.  It feels wrong, like I’ve lost him (which is never the case; he loves me more than his own life, and tells me so all the time).  And any child whose parents then bring new children into the home knows a devastation they might not ever experience again in life – even though they might end up loving their new siblings more than they could ever imagine.

What’s happened with you is that you loved, and still love, this girl in a way that you feel she’s yours, but she’s not feeling the same way about you, so she’s not.  It’s like the difference between when I see Handsome open a can – which usually means dog food for me – and him tell me “No, this is part of our dinner, you’ll get fed later.”  I know it’s mine, but he’s saying it’s not, but I know it’s mine, but he’s saying it’s not…   So much worse a feeling than just seeing him eat something I would like.  It feels like betrayal to me, when he’s not intending that at all.

Now of course it doesn’t take me long to get over him putting that canned food into whatever he’s cooking.  Whereas you love this girl so much you’re still attached to her after nearly a year.

What you need to do is to grieve her.  She’s gone.  Or rather, she’s alive, but the her that was yours is gone.

Imagine what you’d do if she had moved across the world, or even died.  You’d go through sadness, anger, depression… and eventually move on to where you could get interested in someone new.  That’s what you need to do now.

Of course it’s incredibly difficult to do that with her right there in front of you, though!  And are you jealous of that senior she’s with?  Of course you are!  And likely will be for a while.

But what I find is, if you’re willing to give up on her, something interesting always happens.  You start to feel better.  In fact, you start to feel a lot better.

Maybe you begin to realize, “Wow, she’s been really cold to me for months.  I’ve been in great pain and she hasn’t cared at all.  I deserve someone who’s more caring than that!”  Or perhaps, “She likes that senior because he’s got money and can drive.  I hadn’t realized she’s so shallow!  I want a girlfriend with more depth!”  Or, best of all, “I’m so lucky that she gave me room to keep looking, because now I’ve found someone so much better!”

But that will come with time.  What you need now is to focus on one simple fact.  Maybe everything else about this girl is perfect in your eyes, but she has one simple flaw:  She isn’t into you. 

Imagine you bought a puppy who was smart and beautiful and healthy, but would angrily bite you whenever you approached it, and then run away in fear, hating you.  Would you call that your ideal dog?  I doubt it.  Well that’s what she’s done.  In fact, she’s hurt you more than a puppy ever could!

So my friend, my simple advice is to move on and let her go.

After all, she may seem as bright as sunshine to you now, but Icarus was a lot better off when he stayed away from the sun, right?  There’s such a wonderful world of places (and girls) for you to fly to instead!

All my best,

Shirelle

0 What to do when your parent tells you your relationship won’t last

Awerpia asks:

I’m very disturbed and confused. I don’t know what my mother wants from me. Today she smiles and asks about my girlfriend and the next day she’s saying all sorts of things. Mother has only seen pictures of my girlfriend. And from her attitude she seems willing to accept her as my girlfriend but never as my wife. I love my girlfriend so much and I love my mum even more. The way I love both ladies is so deep that I don’t want to have to choose between them. I’m on my way to school. I’m finally moving to the next chapter of my life where I will now be at the clinical level in my studies. And just a day before I departed, after spending almost a year at home due to Covid, my mother just decided to tell me “you won’t marry that girl, I’m telling you” in a very authoritative manner in the middle of a conversation.  I really don’t know why my mother wants to put me in such a situation. One day she wakes up and says give this to your girlfriend, I can’t fit into it, and the next day she just tells me to find an excuse and break up with her. Shirelle I’m confused!!!  My girlfriend and I love each other so much. She is 3 years older and working. She keeps on turning men down because of what we share. Only for me to graduate from school and tell her I’m sorry my mother says go away.  My mother has really spoilt my mood and I don’t know how to even cope with studies. I wanted to say I’m so sad but that’s an understatement of how I actually feel.  dsafAnd what makes it worse are her reasons for disapproval—that girl is too short, you will give birth to dwarfs, she’s not from a rich family… her reasons just don’t make sense to me… maybe because I’m deep in love. What do I do Shirelle? I can’t think straight.  I can’t wake up and plan a wedding without my mother’s approval. Especially from my part of the world where we value the blessings of our parents and assume that without it our marriage will be doomed. I feel doomed already. I never knew I would face this. I feel like just getting lost from the surface of the earth.  And my mother is a type who is very good at stereotyping and playing blame games. If I continue against her weird wishes and I face any problems in future (like short kids), she will keep referencing me till she dies. I’m so frustrated. I don’t know what to tell my girlfriend and I’m not ready to let her go.  It’s like my mother just wants me to have sex with her and dump her in the end for someone she thinks is perfect for me. I’m sure her idea of perfect is a rich tall light skinned figure girl.  I’m confused. Can I even focus on my practice? I have always done what mummy says, right from what I eat to what I wear. But this is just too much for me to bear.

Hi Awerpia –

I’m going to give you two answers, based on different readings of what your mother said.

You see, I’m not totally sure you’re interpreting her correctly.

It sounds to me like she’s actually saying, as parents do so frequently, “You don’t know today what you’ll want later.  And while that girl is everything you love today, she’s not what you’ll want long-term.  She’s not the girl you’ll marry.” 

Now that might irritate you, and make you feel like she’s still treating you as a child who doesn’t know what he wants.  But it’s a far cry from ordering you what to do.

And what I find with parents who make predictions like that, with an “I know you better than you know yourself” attitude, that they’re right way more than one might guess – oh, let’s say 50% of the time!  Yes, they do know you well, and as people grow to be more like their parents over time, they know a lot about who you’ll become.  But that means they’re also wrong 50% of the time.  You’re your own person, and have your own opinions and values – based on the way they raised you of course, but still your own version based on your own experiences and personality.

So if I’m right, you have literally nothing to worry about.  Either she’s right or she’s wrong.  Go on with your life as if she’d never said anything and all will be fine.

But if I’m wrong… this does get tougher.  It sounds like you’re in an in-between culture, where you’re not looking at a fully arranged marriage, but you are depending on your parents’ blessings.  So I will need to ask you a question then: when would you marry this girl if your parents were okay with it?  Would you wait to finish your years of study, or would you want to join yourselves in the next year or so?

If you were planning on waiting, then I’ll go back to what I’ve said before, that with time I imagine your mother will move past her prejudices about your beloved’s height and other “faults,” and learn to like her and accept her.  She might always say “I was hoping you’d choose someone else,” but still be able to live with your choice.  I just think it will take more time, for her to realize all the qualities you love so about your girlfriend, and to see that you – her son, whom she probably cares more about than anyone else on the planet – really want this woman.  And between those two changes, she will almost certainly become more accepting.

But if your plan is to marry sooner, then I’m not sure what to suggest.  You’re going to be far too busy to spend a lot of time campaigning for this, and might even find it hard to give as much time to your family or relationship as you had before, much less more.  So perhaps that is one dream to put off a bit.

But otherwise, truly, I think you two can end up like Handsome and me.  So many people disliked me when I was a puppy – a very obnoxious, hyperactive, troublemaking puppy! – but learned to love me over time.  This can happen with her as well.  You see, people just began to see me through Handsome’s eyes.  His excitement about me, his love for me, his work to get me to behave better… all became part of their lives as well.

So my advice is to just buckle down and be a great student, and trust that the best will happen.  And by the way, I need to add… CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU for doing what you’re doing!  I’ll never like shots or having things sprayed up my nose, but this past year has made me SOOOOOOOO appreciate doctors of all sorts!  What a mind you must have!  I will be so excited to hear what wonderful miracles you achieve!!

And if I were your mother, I’d be so proud of you my chest would just burst open!!

All my very very best,

Shirelle

0 How to deal with parents not accepting your bisexuality

Vedanova asks: I’m bisexual. Yesterday I came out to father. I went to his office and I could feel my heart beating very fast. I was very nervous. He was watching a movie on TV so I waited some time and then we went to get some food. When we came back, I still wasn’t very confident, but I told him I had something that I had wanted to tell him for a long time. And then I told him I was attracted to boys. And the first words that came out of his mouth were, “We have to change that.” I didn’t speak the actual word bisexual because I didn’t want him to know that I know about sexuality. And then I started crying. He started explaining me that this is all because of hormones and that I must have excess of estrogen in my system. And as every homophobic parent ever told their child, “It’s just a phase” was told to me . He wanted to explain me that after a couple years there will be no estrogen left in my system, and I will be attracted to only girls. Now he’s the doctor and not me so I don’t know if that is true or not. And then he also wants me to be a real boy and do “masculine” things and stop doing “girly” things. Whenever I tell him I think some stereotype is wrong he always has the two same reasons – nature told humans to do this (I have never been able to understand this reason) and what people will say. Before coming out, I thought that I would be hugely relieved after coming out but now I instead wish I hadn’t come out. He also told me to never tell anybody but him that I am attracted to boys. He told me that gay boys don’t go through puberty like normal boys do. They don’t ever get facial hair and their voice never deepens which I know is not true. He also told me to not look up anything on the internet about this stuff. He said that he was also attracted to boys in middle school and high school and then wasn’t, which I think he said to make me believe that it’s just a phase thing. I don’t really think that he is homophobic because he did not say anything against gay people. And because I acted like I know nothing about sexuality he also tried to explain me what are the causes of same-sex attraction and he said that it can be CURED by giving anti-estrogen medicines to males and anti-testosterone medicines to females to a certain extent. How can someone be a doctor and say that?! There’s no way a pediatrician does not know about this stuff. One more thing I want to say to you is that I would love to have this letter published on the website if you can (I wouldn’t mind if you wouldn’t) because I feel like this is an issue that every LGBTQ+ person faces and I don’t care if my sister sees it because now I’m getting tired of hiding my true self from the world.

Hi Vedanova –

Every person is guaranteed a few things in life.   And one of them is to disappoint their parents or caregivers, maybe a little bit and maybe a lot.  

You are absolutely correct that your father knows that much of what he said to you isn’t true (I mean, we’ve all seen LOTS of gay men with beards!  Come ON!).  But it’s clear that he doesn’t want to believe you’re gay or bisexual, and that pain in him is real and shouldn’t be discounted by any of us.  Even if we strongly believe it’s misguided.

So I want to throw a crazy notion at you.  Maybe, on one count, he’s right.  Maybe your attraction to men will go away when you’re older.  I don’t know, and you don’t, and he doesn’t (and maybe he wasn’t lying completely about this “phase” of his life!).  Maybe you also won’t like your current favorite food, or your current favorite song.  I simply have no idea.

But here’s the deal about it – it doesn’t matter.

You like that food today, you like that song today, and you’re attracted to both men and women today.  What you’ll feel in ten years is pretty irrelevant.  For all we know, by that time you may have fallen madly in love and gotten married to someone you plan to be faithful to for the rest of your life.  Will it really matter whether you’re attracted to men or women or some body types or races or whatever then?  If you’re faithful, you’re faithful, and that’s all there will be to it.

I do have to say I’m a bit concerned about his idea of giving you medications to deal with this.  I don’t know enough to speak on the issue, but getting a drug to reduce any hormone in your system sounds questionable to me.  What side-effects would that have?  I don’t know.  But it sounds scary.  

As I so often say to teenagers about their sexuality, what matters to me is that you keep safe.  So if you’re finding yourself attracted to both men and women, but not getting sexually active with them, you’re of course totally fine.  Where I see a concern is if you start dating a boy and getting involved – then I imagine your father doing more than he is now.

Vedanova I don’t know your age, or how long you’re planning on staying at home.  If you’re nearing the time you’d move away, you might consider just holding off on pursuing any romantic relationships with boys till then.  And maybe, to avoid confusion and conflict, girls too.

But if we’re talking about years and years, that becomes a tougher issue.

But for now, again, I really want to emphasize that I’m impressed with you and proud of you for standing up for yourself.  While you’re not happy with the immediate results, I think you’ll be happy forever that you admitted who you are.

And that won’t be a phase!

Cheers,

Shirelle

0 What to do when you’re attached to someone with ambivalent feelings

Rebel Kid asks:

Lately I’ve been really upset. I met a girl online 7 months ago and we both like each other. 6 months ago she asked me out but broke up with me two days later because she thought we do not know each other enough and that she’s a terrible person and she might break my heart. I was really hurt cause I actually fell for her, but after a few days things became better.  We started talking and after a while we even told each other how we just want to touch each other and feel each other and how it’s getting hard to stay away. But suddenly she stopped texting me often. She said she likes my art but doesn’t like it when it’s dedicated to her. I thought she doesn’t love herself and maybe I could change that. I tried by not dedicating my art to her too often, and things were again fine. But since a month ago we haven’t been talking properly. I put in all my efforts because I love her, but I feel she doesn’t and she even admitted it. She said half of her heart wants to hold on but other half wants to let go, and she doesn’t understand why people stay – she says she can be alone for the rest of her life. I can’t stop thinking about her, I stop myself from texting her but sometimes I just do which leads to a dead conversation. I really don’t know what to say to her now that she clearly stated that she’s confused and she doesn’t know if she even wants to talk to me. She says it’s her and not me. I always understood, but now I feel like I was just time passing for her and now when she’s bored with me she doesn’t want to stay. It makes me feel terrible and I can’t even take out my anger cause I love her so much that I can’t even think of hurting her by my words. What should I do?

Hi Rebel Kid –

My friend, you are a victim of something called Ambivalence.  We dogs are pretty incapable of it – we have strong feelings about everything.  But humans, with your larger brains, often seem to experience it.  How did you feel about school last year?  Oh it was okay, some was great and some was boring and most was all right.  How do you feel about your parents’ car?  Oh it’s okay, it’s not a cool Corvette but it’s not a boring whatever either.  And, dear miss, what do you think of Rebel Kid?  Oh I love him but I don’t want to be with him and I’m not sure I even want to talk with him…

It’s got to just drive you nuts!

Now it’s totally natural for you to put a lot of effort into figuring out what’s going on with her, and why she acts this way. 

But here’s my bad news – it won’t matter.

Maybe she’s afraid of commitment because her parents had a horrible divorce and she doesn’t trust long-term relationships.  Maybe she’s afraid of her own feelings, especially about physical intimacy.  Maybe there’s something about you she doesn’t like or can’t accept, but she doesn’t want to tell you about it.

But finding out about any of these won’t make her want the relationship you want.  Or rather, it might over time, but I doubt you want to wait years for her.

So my advice, which is painful I know, is to let go.  To acknowledge that you two almost had a really great relationship, which shows that you are fully capable of having one with someone else, but that she is not.  At least not now.

Think of what it would be like (I know this sounds very rough) if you were in a wonderful romance with someone just right for you and she suddenly died.  That would be horrible, right?  Devastating.  You’d cry and grieve and miss her like anything.  And then… at some point, you’d move on.  You’d find someone else, and while they’d never be exactly the same as she’d been, your relationship could be just as good.

Well that’s what’s happened to you.  Because you and this girl had so much you liked about each other, you experienced being in a perfect relationship.  But that perfect part of her died, went away.  She wasn’t able to keep it there. 

So while the good news is that the actual person is still alive, you still need to grieve the relationship just as you would have if she weren’t.

Because – and here’s my main point – what matters isn’t the underlying reasons for the way she’s treating you… it’s that you deserve to be treated better.  Even she says so. 

So be a little selfish, and move on.  It doesn’t mean that you two can’t be friends, or even get together at a later time when she’s more capable.

But for right now, it sounds like she’s being very honest about her ambivalence – feeling more than one way about you at the same time.  And the most respectful thing you can do in return for her honesty is to accept what she says, and kindly, lovingly, step away.

Even if it hurts. 

Because the more it hurts, the more it shows how capable you are of love.  And that love should be given to someone who can happily receive it.

All my very best,

Shirelle

0 What to do when they say they need to break up to concentrate on their career.

hey hey peg asks:

I have been in a relationship for last 6 months and I really really love this guy and its pretty serious.
It was going all good but just two days ago he told me that this is not gonna work out.  He would get distracted from his goals and it’s better that we break up.  He says that we should stop here and think about it after 3 years when he graduates! But I have got so attached to him that I just can’t let him go, and I am ready to do anything to work this out –but he is just not ready to listen to me, to trust that I would stand by him no matter what, and would never distract him or take him away from his goals.  What should I do to convince him that we shouldn’t end this? Because we still love each other. I don’t think I will ever have a bond stronger than that I had with him. If he is very firm on his decision, how would I let him go?

Hi hey hey peg –

I’m awfully sorry this happened.  I know what it’s like to pin all my hopes on someone and then have them just walk away (it happened a number of times to me in the dog pound).  It’s just awful.

And I also know what it’s like to love someone who’s all focused on their dreams and career and studies and doesn’t have time for you (Yes, I’m looking at Handsome as I write this!  He knows who I’m talking about!  Mr. No-Time-For-A-Walk!). 

So I’m able to give you my simple quick advice, and some follow-up.  Which is necessary, because my advice is to Let Him Go.

Now you’ll notice, I didn’t say to break up.  I said to let him go.  Why?  Because if you don’t, you’ll completely prove him right.  “See, hey hey peg, I knew that you’d just keep demanding my time and attention and keeping me from doing the work I need to do!”  Whereas if you step back and say “Okay,” suddenly he’ll have all the room he needs.

But you don’t need, then, to go anywhere!  Let him know that you’re around to talk with, that you’ll be glad to be his friend, just as he needs for now. 

I don’t know where you live, hey hey peg, but if your schools are on the same schedule as the ones where I am, he’s heading into final exams, and maybe has some huge papers and projects due too.  So he has every reason to want to put all his focus on them.  And that’s fine.  But they will end.

Now he may also have some other things in mind that he’s not telling you, too.  Maybe he’s getting a little bored in your relationship (that’s so common with this awful lockdown) and thinking he’d like, when he has time, to pursue someone else.  Okay, let him!  Is anyone else going to be as good to him as you’re being right now?  Will anyone else give him this space, and know and love him the way you do?  Maybe he has to go try with someone, but most likely you’ll keep looking better to him.

And there’s another benefit to letting him go.  Which is – what if he’s really moving on, what if he’s going to be happier outside of your relationship?  Well, if you can become “just friends” with him, it’s going to be a lot easier for you to find someone else too. 

And what if you find someone just as he realizes he was happier with you, and wants to make your relationship work again?

Oh well that would be sooooooo sad, wouldn’t it?  For him to have to compete, to try to win you back, to give you all the attention and love and crazy affection in the world to get you back from this other person?!!!

In other words, hey hey peg, I think there’s just one simple answer.  You don’t need to lie to him – you can tell him you really hope to get back together.  But give him that space he craves.  And let him enjoy it… and then… let him not!

All my best,

Shirelle

0 Is it possible to trust someone completely?

PERFECTION asks:

When you fully trust someone does that mean you don’t get jealous anymore? What does it mean to really fully trust someone?

Hi PERFECTION –

            That’s a really great question.  I think there are two answers – and both are… yes.

            Here’s what I’m thinking.  I trust Handsome with every molecule in me.  I know he can make mistakes (like accidentally stepping on my tail!), but I know he would never do anything to hurt me on purpose.  He always wants the best for me.  No question. 

            But because I value him so much, I can go a little crazy when he’s too friendly with another dog.  But I don’t get mad at him, I just get very rough with the pooch – making sure he or she knows “That Man Is Mine!”  I don’t want anyone trying to steal him away, or to get too much of his attention that I love so much.

            But that’s one kind of jealousy.  There’s the other kind that eats at one’s soul.  It has less to do with what anyone else is doing than about ourselves – when a person feels they’re not good enough, they’re terrified that their partner is going to see them that same way, and leave them for someone more attractive, richer, stronger, whatever. 

            So to get back to your question – if I trust someone fully, I might get jealous of someone else’s interest in them, but I also could have such a low opinion of myself that I get jealous out of the thought that they’ll start seeing me the same way I do.  It’s two different kinds of jealousy (and I can tell you, the first kind is a lot more pleasant to live with!).

            But when you ask what it means to fully trust someone, I’ll go back to what I said about Handsome and my tail.  Sure you might idealize someone and think they’re perfect and can never make mistakes – but you’ll be wrong.  But if you see them as they are, and know that they care fully about you, then yes that’s a legitimate way of fully trusting in them.  And it is a beautiful feeling indeed!

All my best,

Shirelle

0 How to choose where to live when you each want different things

Miss Pawco asks:

I wish to seek some relationship advice from you and to gain a third person perspective apart from his or mine or any biased friend. I am a career oriented woman working in a metropolitan city and very much in love with city life. My boyfriend is currently settled in his hometown (small hill station), operating a cafe. He has agreed on a middle ground situation where we would settle in a tier 3 city (1 hour drive from his town) so that I am able to continue my passion of working in the IT industry. This is evidently the only possible solution visible to us but sometimes he nags me for not being able to live a life like his in a small town and for having an inclination towards city life, and for prioritizing my career over him. He says I think superior of myself and can’t adjust to the situation he has to offer. I do want to be with him but not at the cost of giving up my dreams and identity. Please help.

Hi Miss Pawco –

So I should throw in a warning from the beginning.  I’ve never met you and doubt I ever will, but you should still consider me a “biased friend.”  I adore my pack members, and, even when I disagree with you, will always support you as best I can.

Though with this situation, I can’t really side with either you or your boyfriend on what’s right and what’s wrong.  It certainly does sound like he’s mistaken when he says that your love and ambition for your career means that you think you’re superior to him.  But otherwise, you’re both right – he’s found the lifestyle he likes, and you’ve found a career you love.  And you both want to be with each other.  So that’s difficult.  And no one’s fault.

I do worry that he has that old-fashioned mindset that says a woman should put her ambitions second to her man’s, and that therefore you ought to be willing to live wherever he does.  But even if he does, I’m not sure he realizes that’s influencing his thinking.  Certainly other couples would choose to live where one of them would make the most money.  While others would choose the place they think is best for raising children.  Any of these make sense, and none has to be the rule you two choose to follow.

But did you catch the trick I pulled just then.  I talked about how some couples choose one thing, and some another, and then mentioned what “you two choose.”

But right now, you two aren’t choosing.  He’s choosing one thing and you another.  And the two of you are trying to make it work.  He’s so far been willing to compromise with you on where to live, but clearly he’s not liking what he’s agreed to.  So something else has to happen.

Now maybe he’s really just geared to living in a small town, and nothing else is going to feel right to him, and he needs to just do that; and if so, you might feel you just can’t agree to do that with him, and you two need to split up with great respect and love for each other.  Or maybe this current compromise, while not ideal for either of you, is a price worth paying so that you two can stay together.  Or maybe there’s a better choice for the two of you to make.

My one insistence, though, is that you two agree that what you choose is acceptable, at least for a while.  In other words, if he agrees to that Tier 3 City, he needs to really try to make it work, and not complain about it to you.  Or if you move to his town, you agree to try your best to enjoy it.  And biggest of all, both of you need to promise each other to never again make personal judgments about each other part of this discussion!

When my human friend Handsome takes me for a walk, sometimes I want to go chase another dog, or stay and sniff a tree for a long time, while he wants to keep walking as he intended.  We disagree, and will struggle before agreeing to something (perhaps because he jerks my leash and insists!).  But I will never tell him “You just want to keep going because you’re a control freak and hate being away from your desk!”  And he’ll never tell me “You want to sniff this tree because you’re a dumb dog and can’t read a book!”  I mean, neither of us would ever do that!  We respect each other’s wishes and feelings too much!

So I’m all for you and your boyfriend to keep doing what you need to figure out what’s best for you two.  But please, insist that he stop accusing you of thinking you’re superior.  And make sure you don’t make a similar accusation of him.

As I keep saying, you’re both right, and you both deserve complete respect.  If you come from that place, all this difficulty will become much easier and more tolerable.  I promise.

Best of Luck with it!

Shirelle

0 Should one share a gift with others?

Maya asks:

Hey Shirelle 
Are relationship gifts meant to be shared? 
For instance say I am in a relationship.  My boyfriend buys me something for our Anniversary, then I permit my sister wear it, or maybe she takes it without asking me, and I am like, very okay with sharing it. Tell me Shirelle, what are your tips when it comes to buying and giving out gifts, like are they meant to be shared with others?  Because I believe the significant other won’t feel good about it.  What do you think?

Hi Maya –

I love sharing, and I love even more when things are shared with me, like whatever Handsome is eating!

But of course, people take gifts very seriously, especially when a lot of thought and emotion has gone into them.  And even thought the gift is arguably “given,” some gifts are actually requests.  The easiest example of this is a wedding ring – if I give you one, and you accept it, you’re giving me yourself in marriage.  And I’d sure be bothered to see you re-gifting it to someone else!!  (Don’t worry, I’m not actually proposing to you; I’m fully committed to Handsome.  But hey you could do worse – Handsome tells me I’m quite a catch!)

On the other hand, if I gave you, say, a book, and you let your sister borrow it, that probably wouldn’t bother me at all.  And even if I had given you a wedding ring, I’d probably be honored to see your friends try it on and see how beautiful it was, and tell you how lucky you were to have me, “Oh Maya, you got the best dog EVER as a spouse!”

Now with your question, this is a tough one.  I’m sure your boyfriend would be bothered if you actually gave his gift to your sister.  That would seem very insulting.  But to let her borrow it – maybe he’s fine with that, I don’t know. 

I think the best thing would be for you to ask him what he thinks is best.  But – and here’s my main advice here – ask it in a very specific way.  Tell him how beautiful it is, and how much it means to you.  And then say that it’s so beautiful that your sister really wants to borrow it and wear it to something special.  But, while you want to make your sister happy, it’s more important to you that he be okay with it. 

Do you see what I’m doing here?  Instead of letting her wear it and making him feel unimportant, you’d be telling him just how important it is to you, how special.  Because that’s what matters most.

I have a funny story that deals with this.  When Handsome was a teenager, he was dating a girl whose parents didn’t trust him with her, and especially her father didn’t like him much at all – just because Handsome was dating his daughter.  For her birthday, Handsome baked a cake for the first time, and it came out pretty awful – one side rose but the other didn’t, some was fluffy some was almost liquid.  He tried to fix it by adding extra icing on the one side, and it didn’t work.  But of course it still tasted okay – it just looked lousy.  He brought it to her, with many apologies, and took her out for the evening.  And when they got back to her house… they found that her parents had eaten half of it!  Was he upset that his gift had gone to someone other than his beloved?  No way – he was thrilled!  Their eating the cake made him feel more accepted by them than he ever had before! 

So there’s no single answer.  Try my words with your boyfriend, and I imagine all will become clearer.

And if you think of it, send me a photo of what he gave you!  I’d love to see it!

Thanks,

Shirelle

0 Should you worry if your different-sex partner kisses someone of their sex?

Outcast asks:
Lately my girlfriend told me she kissed her female friend. Her reason was that her friend was nice and she was curious to see how it felt kissing another girl.  It’s been two weeks since she told me . But I think I lost that trust towards her, though most friends tell me it’s not a bad thing. I’m confused on how I should feel or act about this.

Hi Outcast –

Okay, let’s get this out of the way for starters: I love to kiss EVERYBODY!  Men, women, boys, girls, all sorts of dogs, the sides of trees, hey I’ve even kissed a couple of cats in my day!  So how you humans avoid kissing all of each other is just beyond me.

But I know that the sort of kissing you’re talking about isn’t the same as me running up and taking a big slurp on the side of someone’s face.  Or if your girlfriend had kissed her grandmother.  This was more of a romantic kiss, a sexual kiss.  And she wanted to find out how it felt to do that with a girl, since she’d only tried it with boys before.

And you say you’re confused as to how you should feel or act.  And I’m going to emphasize one word of that: you’re confused as to how you SHOULD feel or act.

And my answer to that is… no.

That there is no such thing as “Should” in this case.

Now there are some people who will tell you “What she did is wrong, and so you should break up with her.”  But I’m not one of those.  What they did was inquisitive and harmless, to my mind.

But maybe you feel horrified and disgusted and mistrusting, “If she would kiss that girl, then what else might she do, the next time she gets curious?  Flirt with my dad?  Make out with my best friend?  Take her shirt off in church?!”  And if that’s the case, then you clearly need to talk with her, and find out where her boundaries lie.  What is “interesting” to her, and what’s “off limits.”

Or maybe you feel excited, “I hope she does it again so I can watch!  Or maybe she and her friend would both make out with me at the same time!”

Or maybe you don’t really care all that much.

Now you say you’re feeling a loss of trust.  But I think it’s really important to answer two big questions then.  First, what is it you’re not trusting – that she kissed anyone, that she was willing to try kissing someone of the same sex, that she was even curious about it?

And secondly, how did she feel about it?  Has she told you?  Did she love it?  Did she want to do more of it?  Or did she feel “It’s just the same as kissing a boy?”  Or maybe even “It was nothing, I didn’t feel anything at all?”

The fact is, Outcast, we live in a very particular time.  Because humans are getting more accepting of different sorts of sexualities that have been shunned for centuries, that also means people – especially young people – are trying more things out.  “Am I bisexual?”  “Am I actually a different gender, or gender-fluid?”  And these questions aren’t a bad thing at all.  Especially if they help people get happier, and help people accept others more than they have before.

Don’t get me wrong – if one’s religion or moral beliefs dictate that they shouldn’t even try such things, I’m not going to say they’re wrong.  But just as I don’t want to see one person hate another because that person eats foods they don’t believe are morally or religiously right, I also don’t want to see hatred of another for who they’re attracted to, or who they innately feel they are.

So what all this leads to is… talk with her.  Find out how she feels, and what she wants.  And then have an even bigger talk with yourself.  And see what you really, deep down, feel about what she says.

But I can say that I’m a lot more likely to judge someone for kicking a dog than for kissing anyone.

All my very best,

Shirelle