Cars and relationship...

Relationships are crazy and awesome all at the same time.  I often say and probably have mentioned in this blog a time or two that our greatest lessons in life are learned via relationships.  So while talking to my son about relationships, I remembered my experience with my first car.  I love analogies and surprisingly he caught the connection.  I was like hell, let me share it in a blog, maybe it will resonate with others ☺.

The first car I ever purchased was a 1995 Saturn.  It was white in fairly good condition.  After I slide into a car and the front left side of the hood became dented, I lovingly named it Ice Grill.  The front looked like it was giving some one the stank face...lol.  

I loved that car!  It gave me a since of independence and freedom, I hadn't felt before.  Although I loved that car, I ran it into the ground and didn't do much in the maintenance area.  Although, I didn't take care of the car, it lasted for about four years.  When I realized, I was causation for it not lasting 10 years, I was determined to one - get another Saturn and two - do what it takes to take care of it.

I now own a Saturn Vue, which is actually my third Saturn.  I took such good care of my second Saturn, I was able to trade it in and get the Saturn Vue.  The Vue is in such good condition, that I gave it away.  Saturn no longer makes cars so now I have a Toyota, which I love.

Get to the point!  Ok ok.  I really didn't know what it took to take care of a car.  I did the best I could with the information I knew.  With that being said, it was inevitable that the car would not last because I wasn't caring for the car the way I should even though I was doing the best I knew.  The key was I learned from my first Saturn how I should care for a car to ensure it last.  I learned what a car needs to be sustained over a lifetime.  Kinda works the same way in relationships.  Each relationship is different, however there are fundamental elements that are needed to sustain them over a lifetime.  We must take the time to learn what those are and DO those things.

And if by chance there were things you didn't know and the relationship doesn't last, that's ok.  Learn from it and move forward to do and be better.

Seems simple enough but you'd be surprised how many people don't do research prior to buying a car, let alone prior to getting into a relationship.  

Learn and do the maintenance to self and your relationships.  Although we can't predict if a relationship (or car) will last, if you're doing all you can to care for your relationship, the likelihood is exponentially greater.  We should decide to be intentional about the relationship agreements (like a contract) we commit to and with that agreement we must commit to doing our best.

When you know better, you should do better.