I want to take the opportunity to be grateful for my relationship, and wish my girlfriend a happy birthday, and a happy golden year!
I've learned a lot about myself over the past 18 months that we've been together. It's been a wild ride, and I'm so happy to be on it.
Relationships are interesting. They bring out the deepest joy in us, and the deepest pain. Both are inevitable.
But I don't think the pain needs to always be there.
Early on, I've looked at pain as a form of cleansing. Something that needs to come out if it's buried in there. And relationships have a way of doing that.
Once it comes out, I do think we can be more free and experience more and more joy, and less and less pain.
I believe we must pass through pain to arrive at true fulfillment in our relationships.
But it takes work. We have to push through the tough times, and know that we will come out better on the other side. This is a choice that all couples have to make when challenges arise.
One of the things I'm most grateful for about my significant other is her strength and her constant willingness to fight for our relationship.
If each partner supports one another, and always recognizes that they're on the same team moving together, rather than opponents butting heads, then they can be truly happy together.
So, with that, I'm so happy to be on the same team as Natalie, and I can't wait for a life filled with joy and substance together.
Happy birthday!
Live with substance!
Gabe
