10/24/2025
To stretch oneself beyond the ways you know how is an act of love and care. Of course, relationships ask this to go both ways. We need that (as well as the receiving of the love) otherwise the stretching becomes a breaking. But what a beautiful commitment to work toward loving someone the way *they* want to be loved and not just in the way it comes naturally or easily for you.
It takes emotional maturity to not take the request for different personally. To not hold the story that your way of loving isn’t good enough or appreciated. To be able to step towards a partner, while receiving their wishes and desires. There’s a surrender that takes place to love in this way. A release of control. And an ability to receive.
I invite you to reflect on whether the ways you love really lands for the other person. Have you ever asked “in what ways could I love you better?” “In what ways could I love you differently?” I know these are vulnerable, brave questions to ask, but might you lean in? And while you’re at it, might you think about the ways you are loved? How would loving you differently/better look?
