When we really want a relationship–or anything else–we have to risk falling down. Most of us have attached some stigma to the fall, especially when somebody is watching. But we can’t learn to walk, or dance, or fly without “falling down.” We can’t learn to get up without falling down. And we need to know how to get up! Because no matter how hard we try to avoid it, we will take a fall. We can learn to do it well, with grace and honesty.

When we let go of the notion that we should be able to pull off the happily-ever-after without some rough landings, we’re free to walk, leap, run, and fly. We’re free to be who we are! Then, somebody else can tune into us! And that IS the fairytale … two people who truly know each other, who aren’t denying the pitfalls, but rather learning to navigate through them! Two people who face each other and life with open eyes, whether they just landed in the dirt or they’re soaring through blue skies.

If you want happily-ever-after skies, learn to hit the dirt and brush it off, without letting it define you. Learn to get up! Way up!… More

When you hide pieces of the truth, you hide pieces of you. And while you might protect yourself from rejection, you also protect yourself from connection, intimacy, and love. But you are lovable! You can take the mask off and feel loved! … More