Daisy Chain

*This article is written largely from the female perspective but "she" can and often is just as interchangeable as "he".

"He loves me, he loves me not...." Often when a client comes to me asking, "should I stay? Is it worth it?" I can visualize them weighing their choice by the daisy petals they pull off, yet, somehow always managing to land on, "he loves me".

Let's cover a few things about what love is: love is gentle, kind, not envious, it is forgiving, and it is not selfish. Now this is ideal love, there is no one on this planet that is all of these things all of the time but if you find yourself asking, "should I stay?", why are you asking that? I rarely tell a client straight-out "yes" or "no", except in extreme circumstances, my role is as a bystander. I am here to show you available paths and likely outcomes based on where you and your partner currently are. But if someone, especially early on, exhibits behavior that is rude, demeaning, neglectful, selfish, or careless, chances are that behavior will continue and will worsen. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. (Allowing room for change and people who truly transform, of course, but we are creatures of habit.)

The last thought I want to leave you with on this is: We teach people how to treat us. If you stay when someone is mean, degrading, selfish, or any number of inappropriate and unhealthy actions for a good, solid relationship, and they continually repeat that behavior, you are signaling to them that it is okay for them to run over you like that. Never stay for fear of being alone or because someone has convinced you that this person is your one and only "soul mate". That's a topic for another article but this is a big, wide world, full of all kinds of people. There is someone else, someone caring, loving, and healthy for you out there. Why are you holding yourself back from finding them?


As hard as it may be, you often do not need me to answer the question of, "should I stay?" and you also don't need a daisy chain either.