Mike's Rules for Relationships
06/30/2022
In reflecting on life a little bit, relationships mostly, I've gone through two marriages (6 years with #1, 20 years & 3 boys with #2) and a number of short-term girlfriends and long-term relationships pre-and-post marriage in my now 60 years. I've experienced a lot, learned a lot in all that time.
Those experiences, all of them, the good, the bad, the ugly, my fault, her fault, the entire range of emotions, has motivated me to compile a list I call Mike's Rules for Relationships. They are rules I now live by. It's a spin of Gibbs Rules if you're a fan of NCIS. Drama on TV is entertaining. I'm getting too old for drama in real life.
Mike’s Rules for Relationships
Rule #1: Communicate
Other Rule #1: Never screw over your partner: Not over money, not with infidelity, not in spite.
Rule #2: Never be unreachable
Rule #3: Best way to keep a secret: Keep it to yourself. Second best: Tell one other person – if you must. There is no third best.
Rule #4: You don’t waste good.
Rule #5: Never say you’re sorry.
Rule #6: Never take anything for granted.
Rule #7: Bend the line, don’t break it.
Rule #8: It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.
Rule #9: When you need help, ask.
Rule #10: If it feels like you’re being played, you probably are.
Rule #11: There’s no such thing as a coincidence.
Rule #12: Never accept an apology from somebody who just sucker punched you.
Rule #13: Sometimes you’re wrong.
Rule #14: Never trust a woman who doesn’t trust their man.
Rule #15: When you decide to walk away, never look back.
I've had a lot of trouble abiding by #15, guilty of looking back, dwelling, playing "What if", doing things trying to salvage what at the time I thought was a good relationship. I'm still learning how to never look back.
Be good to your partner, but don't forget to be good to yourself, I guess that's rule #16.