
You ever go into a dating experience like, 'He’s great, but he needs to work on XYZ,' and before you know it, you're over his head every second you can get to remind him to work on that same 'XYZ?' Yes? Well, perfect because this article is for my lovely fixers; it’s time to dive deep into learning to discern better potential long-term partners for you!
As a recovering fixer, I’m guilty of trying to fix many men I've dated in the past, thinking if I'd "encourage" him to work on XYZ, he'd be a better partner for me. And to be honest, it wasn't healthy for me to find my worth in making him better versus accepting his character at face value. Instead, I should have been asking myself, can I see myself in alignment with him or is it better to just be friends? These are hard questions, I know, but essential ones you need to ask yourself in the earlier stages if you are looking to date intentionally based on your values and morals.
The author of Getting to Zero: How to Work Through Conflict in Your High-Stakes Relationships, Jayson Gaddis adds, “If I do all the work in our relationship, including paddling for both of us, and you sit on your ass, we will go in circles and never reach our destination.” What's more, instead of doing the work for two, focus on the things you need to work on for yourself and stop doing work that isn’t yours to do.
If you are finding yourself constantly trying to change your partner, here are a few things to keep in mind.
1.Ask yourself, 'Why do I want to change my partner?'
As a recovering fixer, I have immense empathy for my fellow fixers reading this article because at most fixers’ core is the mindset to be of service in their romantic relationships. They often lead with acts of service being their primary love language, not realizing it’s causing more harm than helping anything.
As psychologist Kristin Davin, PsyD, states, “We often create an image of what we want our partner to be and focus on those traits that reinforce that image. However, over time, that lens shifts to one of wanting to change their partner."
Davin notes that some of the reasons for this include: "(1) By and large, women have an overly idealistic view of relationships. They want to change their partner to fit this idea. Men, on the other hand, think there is no need to change. (2) People have lofty expectations of both the relationship and their partner. So they start wanting their partner to change to meet those ideals. It rarely, if ever, works.”
She continues, “They may want to change their partner because there are things they don't like about them - that they often ignored in the beginning - but now have become problematic for them. As a result, relationship problems will evolve. And always trying to change your partner creates resentment. It is a relationship killer. They would rather focus on the other person meeting their needs, instead of looking inward and focus on how they can show up differently for their partner.”
Be aware of those deflectors; that’s a red flag when the other person is consistently focused on what you need to work on and not focusing on their growth or minimizing it, acting as if it’s minor compared to what you need to work on. Everyone’s battle is different, and that isn’t a healthy form of comparison as it shows a lack of accountability.
2.Are you dating their potential or who they are at face value?
I’m sure most people have dated a person or two based on “their potential.” But dating someone’s potential to some extent is a bit of a Russian roulette game based on the type of potential you're betting on. Some people aren’t even assessing a dating situation based on the other person's actions to make that potential a reality. The other person could be making no real progress, and then they are like, 'They’ll get there eventually.' That’s a bit unrealistic, but it happens more often than you can imagine.
As Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Kevin Mimms states, “There is a tendency to point toward potential (real or imagined) as a contrast to other, more damaging behavior. It may be that the potential they see is a projection of their hopes or ideals onto this person. To interpret thoughtless words or actions as demonstrative of childhood dreams is naive but understandable.”
It's important to be aware of the fact that the potential you see for a person might not be the potential they see for themselves. This form of projection is something we can sometimes subconsciously do. Instead, learn to lead by listening to understand and discerning a person’s motives by their actions.
“There is a thin line between seeing potential in someone and living your dream out through them. They may have potential, even one very similar to your dreams, but it isn’t about them when you make their growth about fulfilling your dreams.”
3.Is building a partner by trying to change them beneficial in the long run?
The next time the idea of building a partner pops up, ask yourself why you want to take up that responsibility. Is there a part of you settling because you think your needs can’t be met, so you’re just trying to make this work? Are you subconsciously married to the timing you have for yourself for a relationship, marriage, kids, or all the above, making you force something that may not be for you in the long run?
As Licensed Mental Health Counselor Nicole Kleiman-Reck, LMHC, mentions, “I don’t think building a partner is beneficial since every person is unique and beautiful in his/her own way (and already fully built).” Let’s emphasize the “already fully built” part, which means there is no need for your tweaking for your personal self-gain that may not serve the person in the long run and could brew areas of resentment.
“Building a relationship with two partners is helpful, and this entails agreeing to disagree, choosing to tolerate, learning to compromise, and aiming to come to what feels like a 'win-win' outcome. It all boils down to learning to appreciate and value the different aspects that each person has to offer in the relationship, which is what makes a strong partnership based on interdependency (which is not the same as co-dependency or dependency).”
4.Introspection is key to stop trying to change a partner.
Turn inward. Building your self-awareness is essential for unlearning fixing in relationships. You may think it’s helpful in the moment, but in a long-term relationship, it will become mentally and emotionally depleting for both parties. As Davin states, “Work on yourself. The fixers are focused outside themselves and want to change and 'fix' another person rather than looking inward. Taking the time to be more introspective allows that person to question their 'fixing behavior' and what motivates them to continually engage in that behavior. It's very off-putting for the person they are trying to change."
"When we are focused on changing others, we aren't focused on what we need in a person and relationship and being honest about that but rather using our energy to change others. When we are focused on the other person, we turn our energy outwards.”
5.Understand the importance of dating people based on face value.
Let me explain, acceptance = peace.
As Kleiman-Reck suggests, “I think it is of the utmost importance to take people at face value and accept them based on where they are now. The thing is, you can ask someone to change, and you can inspire someone to change, but you cannot make them change. The better question is, what are YOU going to change to feel happier in your relationship (or in any aspect of life, for that matter)?” This is a tough question to ask oneself, but an essential one to train your mind back to working on the only person you can change, YOU!
“Life is too short to distract yourself from changing others. Changing your belief system on what makes a fulfilling relationship will help with acceptance and joy that is usually there for the taking.”
A healthy bond’s foundation starts and ends with acceptance. To my fixers, I know it’s not an easy fix, but it is a worthy one. Imagine a world of you just being responsible for how you show up in the relationship and not ignoring the red flags that he or she doesn’t have what you need but they have “potential.” Develop a new mindset of, "I’m not forcing anything, and I’m only aligning with people who are in a similar place as me."
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I’m sure a high percentage of people who chose to click this article either are fixers, former fixers, or maybe they want to understand why fixers feel the need to make it their responsibility to change everyone. Well, for one, barely anyone who fits the bill knows why they do what they do until it exhausts them—like myself. I have been a fixer for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved fighting for the underdog. Something about being needed for the betterment of people’s lives has always felt very fulfilling to me. That is until I’d invested so much in many close relationships that it backfired on me. And like many fixers, I would question how I could have offered so much, yet people treated me anyhow in the end?
First of all, I don’t know who gave me this responsibility. It's really not my battle to fight because transforming people’s mindsets is not any person’s job. It is work that only Jesus can do. “Let go and let God” is a real mindset that fixers need to be open to.
I've realized that if people didn't see the need or have the desire to work through their own mishaps, there was nothing I could do to change the outcome of things. It didn’t matter how much I cared and wanted them to step into their so-called greater potential. Progress wouldn't happen until they were ready and willing to do the work.
My Fixer Revelation
During a therapy session, I was asked whether I liked being “everything” for people close to me, and I said "yes," feeling a bit shameful and questioning why I continued those cycles. Every fixer has their particular reasons, but I think my abandonment issues had a lot to do with it. As a child, I felt that I wanted to be cared for. I wanted to be rescued by my absent biological father and saved from being emotionally neglected by other family members.
I always felt things very deeply. I have a Scorpio Moon sign, and I mention that to signify that I am very comfortable sitting in and working through heavy emotions. It intrigues me a lot, and that’s my big way of fixing people—being their emotional backbone until it’s backfired on me in several close relationships. This is why I’m now choosing to combat this behavior of playing savior and working on being a supporter of people, not their foundations.
Let me introduce you to the fixer lens below, as I dissect this character trait with two therapists who are very well-versed on the subject:
How To Know You're A Fixer
One of the biggest ways to tell if you're a fixer is to see how much you extend yourself in relationships and to whom you stretch yourself. I often extend myself to individuals who associate themselves with avoidant or other anxious attachment styles. I also tend to play the role of fixer to avoidants because they don’t like examining their emotions, and I often like walking them through it. Licensed clinical social worker, Insha Rahman, a relationships and boundaries expert at mental health directory Choosing Therapy, says that fixers tend to feel responsible for other people's emotional stability and happiness, while they themselves are very sensitive and emotionally vulnerable.
If you like to be the giver in a relationship to the point of "saving" or being a "white knight," you're probably a fixer. Someone with a fixer mentality has to fix anything they perceive as hurt, broken, or defective.” I look at myself as an ongoing self-help project. For way too many years, I have applied the same mindset to relationships of any kind—familial, friendly, and romantic.
Licensed mental health counselor Nicole Kleiman-Reck, an expert on relationships and boundaries, mentions another perspective on how to identify whether you're a fixer. “A person can recognize if they are a fixer when they avoid getting to the root of a problem. In relationships, this is often described as being avoidant. If a person is doing all of the work to fix the problems in a relationship, they can pretty much be feeling like they are taking on 100 percent of the responsibility in the relationship. They are not holding their partner accountable for the role he or she is playing and often feel insecure in the relationship. Fixers are often very uncomfortable to see their partner in pain, but it is usually tolerating the discomfort that allows the work to be done for true resolution of problems.”
"Fixers are often very uncomfortable to see their partner in pain, but it is usually tolerating the discomfort that allows the work to be done for true resolution of problems.”
Who would have thought offering your partner space to figure it out for themselves, in their own timing and way, is more beneficial for both parties?
Why You Like Fixing Other People
“Fixers feel the need to fix others because of an underlying need to validate and give meaning to their own lives," adds Rahman. "Many times, fixers are survivors of some kind of past damage such as abandonment or loss of a caregiver. Although their intentions may initially be positive, fixers want to be the one figure everybody looks up to for all the answers.”
Unfortunately, I have felt this as my “calling” to help others in such a capacity, not knowing it was also causing a lot of heartaches as well. I was investing an abundance of self-work that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the other person. Just because I see and often treat myself as a project doesn't mean others should be depicted through that lens. Just think about how hard it is to unlearn and change aspects of yourself.
To think that’s an easy 1-2-3 for others is literally insanity.
The Backfiring Aspects of Being a Fixer
Many people admire fixers because sacrificing themselves at such a capacity can be disguised as deep-rooted love or care for the other person. In reality, it builds an unhealthy attachment instead of a support system with boundaries — which every relationship needs.
Kleiman-Reck states, “Fixing is unhealthy in relationships because it will get in the way of true intimacy. It's a one-sided relationship, and it can either lead to codependency and enabling of the partner to take responsibility for the changes they need to make on an individual level or will be downright exhausting for the fixer, and they will often get into the habit of fixing, even when there is not a problem. Fixing can get in the way of differentiation in a relationship, which is essential since both partners need to be able to express their individual needs. Being able to openly communicate this is essential in a healthy relationship, and fixing is unhealthy because it prevents this growth.”
"Fixing can get in the way of differentiation in a relationship, which is essential since both partners need to be able to express their individual needs. Being able to openly communicate this is essential in a healthy relationship, and fixing is unhealthy because it prevents this growth.”
As someone who has had my fair share of one-sided relationships, when they came to an end, I felt so empty. It was like, 'Wow, I gave so much.' And in the end, it was never enough. It was just in the last few months of therapy, as I unpacked a lot of my patterns in relationships, that I started to see the role I often played. I questioned whether I was playing this role as a trauma response to underlying abandonment issues.
“Being a fixer can be a trauma response to past abandonment issues that stem from an ingrained sense of being damaged," Rahman says. "And abuse damages self-esteem. Often children who were exposed to parental disapproval, rejection, and physical or emotional abuse will end up with a sense of blaming themselves for their parents' abuse. Then in adulthood, that person might project [their] damaged self onto partners whom they see as in need of repair. In other words, by fixing their partner, they are fixing themselves.” And so, the cycle continues.
Unlearning Habits and Implementing Secure Boundaries
Kleiman-Reck says that in helping fixers through their challenges, she empathizes with "the fixing role they have been playing" and she encourages self-compassion since a "fixing mentality usually comes from a place of deep hurt but also has positive intent." She also reinforces that making it to therapy means that a fixer realizes there is a disconnect in the relationship, which is "huge progress." She helps clients to recognize internal conflicts and works with them to "normalize the two parts of themselves" and have a "healthy dialogue" between the part of themselves that wants to evolve and the part of themselves that wants to fix others.
"I would also support their own discomfort during their process of change and reinforce the beauty that is on the other side of a truly healthy relationship. I would teach them how to get curious about their partner's actions by encouraging them to ask questions (and would guide them through healthier questions to ask)."
"The goal of unlearning their fixing qualities will be to better understand why they feel compelled to fix while normalizing the discomfort that comes from growth. Seeking support would be an ongoing focus while they take action with boundary-setting," she adds.
To all my fixers out there, I know your heart. It is pure and always looking to play the role of a warrior. But a sustaining and healthy love needs space for people to figure out their own mishaps. The best you can do is acknowledge whatever issue comes up with compassion and be patient with others during their healing process.
You need to focus on their discernment and being responsible for your part. You can also release the burden off your shoulders if you admit the work that is meant for you to do in the relationship versus work that the other party needs to tend to.
Every loving relationship needs boundaries. Stop enabling work that wasn’t meant for you to do.
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7 Signs You've Evolved From 'Being Chosen' To 'Doing The Choosing' In Relationships
“When you heal, you go from wanting to be chosen to doing the choosing.” This quote came to mind one day while journaling. It had been almost two years of doing the work to heal my inner child wounds. For almost a decade, I spent most of my teenage and young adult years unconsciously looking for someone to rescue me. Someone who would show up for me “full-time” the same way I wanted my caregivers to show up for me full-time.
Yes, I love my parents, and yes, my parents did the best they could with what they had but they weren’t always able to attune to my needs in the way that I needed them to consistently. It was not until I found myself in a cycle of trauma bonds and a pattern of unhealthy relationships that I realized that I was seeking to be chosen.
After experiencing one of the worst heartbreaks of my life, I realized that it couldn’t just be everyone else. There had to be something in me that was making me a match for these experiences. After working with a therapist and doing some inner child work, I realized that I had spent so much time in these unhealthy relationships because I was looking for someone to choose me.
By them choosing me, I was hoping their validation would finally make me feel good about myself. But I realized time and time again after every failed relationship, the reason why I wasn’t being “chosen” had nothing to do with me not being “good enough." It was because I wasn’t choosing myself.
I kept getting into relationships constantly abandoning myself, giving other men the loyalty that I needed to give myself. I would disown my boundaries and shapeshift into whoever they needed me to be to receive love from them.
If they wanted a girl who didn’t “nag” or “complain,” I made sure that I kept my feelings to myself. If they wanted a girl who would turn into their mother, I would make sure that I spent the majority of the relationship fixing and rescuing them from their problems so I didn’t have to deal with my own.
I realized that I had to come face to face with my inner child wounds and grieve what I never received from my parents. It wasn’t until I was able to allow myself to feel that discomfort that I put myself in a position of power to finally give myself the things my wounded inner child was looking for in other people.
Evolving beyond the point of wanting to be chosen to doing the choosing does not happen overnight, but with inner work healing is possible. And how do you know you've entered your healing era? Here are 7 signs that you are shifting from that mindset and a pathway to healing:
1.You have identified your needs and built your confidence in getting those needs met:
When I’m working with my clients 1:1, I constantly remind them that the key to your healing is not only identifying your needs but building your confidence in getting those needs met by giving them to yourself. If you are not aware of your needs, you will become a slave to someone else's standards. And you see where that may lead you, right? When you work on giving your needs to yourself, you're building your confidence in them by being a living example of the standards you would like to see in others.
If you want someone who is honest, when was the last time you were honest with yourself? If you want someone who is consistent, when was the last time you followed through on a promise you made to yourself? Once you start to identify your needs and build your confidence in them, you will start to see that it is possible and you’ll know that it’s possible because you’re a living testimony of it. When you pour into yourself in this way, you will be able to confidently recognize these characteristics in someone else without having to guess. It increases your level of discernment when you’re choosing a partner.
2.You honor your boundaries by standing firm in them:
Boundaries define who we are. They are where we end and another person begins. Boundaries are not barriers to connecting but are simply healthy limits to ensure that we can maintain a healthy sense of self in a relationship with another person. So many people get into relationships trying to melt into another person, disowning their boundaries and standards just to say they have a connection with someone. Nevertheless, a healthy connection has a healthy separation between two people.
Rather than enmeshing with each other, two people in a healthy relationship honor and respect each other's differences in order to preserve the relationship, not push each other away. When you are in a relationship and you do not honor your boundaries, you are not allowing people to see you clearly and experience true intimacy with you. This is why so many of us may find ourselves in unhealthy relationships because the longer you disown your boundaries, the more you hinder the right people from showing up in your life.
3.Your mindset is shifting during the dating process:
When you meet someone new, you are no longer trying to figure out if this person likes you. You’re no longer altering your appearance to please them or ruminating on if this person sees a future with you. When you make this mindset shift, you take your power back. You shift your focus from altering yourself to be “liked” to actually giving yourself and other people the opportunity to see you for who you truly are.
You are also giving yourself an opportunity to see the other person clearly for who they are. You’re paying attention to what qualities they have that may be compatible with you. You’re spending less time ruminating and altering yourself and more time assessing if you like them, rather than focusing on if they like you or trying to change them.
4.You’re more confident in who you are:
When you’re healing, you are embracing who you are authentically. Instead of wearing a mask and performing for love, you’ve taken the time to truly get to know yourself and be unapologetic about it.
5.You are actively healing your inner child wounds:
When you’re healing, you take the time to heal any inner child wounds that may be sabotaging your relationships. Not having boundaries, not accepting people for who they are, and disowning your values become a thing of the past. Although our inner child may have used these coping strategies to ensure our survival in childhood, it’s realizing that your survival is no longer dependent on your parents and it is your responsibility to find healthier ways of connecting. You start to challenge what you’ve always considered “normal” and start to assess if the unhealthy patterns and behaviors you fall into empowering you to get the type of relationship you want.
6.You’re more in tune with your values:
Our values define what is important to us at each stage of our lives. Think about when you were younger, you may have valued things such as playing with friends, creating a hobby for yourself, and going to school. As you get older, your values change as you change. Now as an adult, you may value working long hours in your career or you may value spending more time with family. When we are in tune with our own values, we give ourselves an opportunity to find people who share similar values as us, rather than trying to change or alter people into valuing the things that we value.
Ten times out of ten, our values cannot be compromised. Our values guide our decisions and lead us in the direction of the type of life we want to live. When we are in tune with what is important to us, we can confidently let go of people who may not value the things we value.
7.You offer yourself more grace and compassion:
Healing is hard work. You are discovering all of these parts of yourself that you were completely unaware of. As you are healing, you learn to give yourself more grace and compassion. You understand that you are not always going to get it right and instead of chastising or punishing yourself; you are able to compassionately hold yourself accountable and work towards making a different choice in the future.
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These Celeb Divorces Remind Us That There's No Such Thing As Relationship 'Failure'
If you made it out of this Mercury retrograde barely alive, you are not alone. From what we have been witnessing in recent weeks, it seems like so many celebrity couples have been experiencing relationship challenges now more than ever before. Or at least, that’s the pattern we are seeing on social media.
Now some of you may be familiar with Mercury retrograde, but let me just give you a brief overview before we go any further. The planet Mercury normally moves faster than Earth around the sun and usually three times a year, but this year in particular (four times, to be exact), the planet Mercury begins to slow down.
When Mercury is slowing down, we call that Mercury retrograde, and, energetically for us, that simply means that life gets tenser, there tends to be a lot of miscommunication, relationships are challenged and people from your past may circle back offering reconciliation.
In my opinion, Mercury retrograde gets a really bad rap because it is challenging, but not every challenge is inherently “bad.” During this time period, it may seem like everything is going wrong, but we must shift our mindset in order to embrace the wisdom that Mercury retrograde has to offer.
If we pay attention and actually move with the planet and simply allow ourselves to slow down, Mercury retrograde can be a time when we take a good look at our personal lives and our relationships and reassess why we are in them.
These past few weeks, we’ve been seeing many celebrity couples filing for divorce. Celebrities such as Tia Mowry and Cory Hardrict, Miguel and Nazanin, and a few more that have spent years together are splitting up due to “irreconcilable differences."
These various separations come as a shock for many, as people on social media share their thoughts and feelings about these couples splitting up.
@hitt_jay #greenscreen #tiamowry #tameramowry #coryhardrict #sistersister #twins #twinsisters #popculture #fyp
The Problem With Idealizing Celebrity Relationships
As a society, we tend to put celebrities and their relationships on a pedestal for what a relationship should look like, the practice of which is extremely superficial. Phrases such as “relationship goals'' and even our very own “Black love'' tend to be taken out of context and used to pedestal other people's relationships.
These phrases have now been used as expectations that we set for other people to set the template for what we should strive for in our own lives while knowing nothing about these people and what’s really going on in their relationships. And in the past few weeks, as I have witnessed so many couples separating and filing for divorce, I have realized that so many of us have a very codependent relationship with our idea of what relationships should be.
A celebrity couple can split because of irreconcilable differences and people immediately assume that someone cheated or they just weren’t working hard enough to fight for their marriage, but what if no one cheated? What if their differences were just so polarizing that they could not coexist together peacefully?
According to mensrightsdivorcelaw.com, "irreconcilable differences" means "an individual and their spouse cannot get along with one another enough to keep the marriage alive, and this lack of getting along can cause a whole array of other issues in the marriage."
And the way that I see it, irreconcilable differences, outside of the textbook definition of it is what happens when two people have different values and desires, i.e. whoever they were when they married might no longer be who they are now. So many of us do not want to look at incompatibility in relationships because it’s just too painful to face, but I honestly feel like this relationship challenge isn’t talked about enough (which is also why a lot of people end up staying in a marriage that may not be for them).
We don’t want to look at the side where our needs and values are just so different that we cannot maintain a romantic relationship with someone. The reason we avoid this reality is that it requires us to practice acceptance and loving someone from a distance. Most of us tend to avoid this reality because it’s difficult to face the hard truth of loving a person. But simply being incompatible with someone may also trigger unresolved rejection or abandonment wounds.
But if we are in a relationship with someone and we are creating stories and narratives and internalizing this person's behaviors, actions, or values to mean something negative about us, we are tying our sense of self-worth to their values.
I think we should start celebrating people for leaving relationships that are not for them.
Whenever we see a celebrity couple break up or decide to go their separate ways, I see so many people responding with, “Omg, I’ll never believe in love again," and "If they didn’t work out, no one will work out," and let's not forget, "I don’t believe in marriage anymore."
My question is, why are we putting these people on this imaginary pedestal hoping that their marriage will set the standard for us?
@shygirlsentiments ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? #miguelsinger #nazaninmandi #celebritybreakup #celebdivorce #hollywoodmarriage
Incompatibility and the Release of Relationship 'Failure'
I think because so many of us grew up in households where our caregivers might have been absent or they weren’t able to show us an example of a healthy relationship, we take these celebrities and put them on the pedestal so they can be the representation of what we’re desperately seeking.
Respectfully, we have to come to a point of healing and emotional maturity within ourselves to see beyond what's being presented on the surface. All of the cute pictures and red carpet moments are just the aesthetic, people are going to present their best selves in the presence of other people. But the real magic happens off camera, the real relationship happens when no one is looking.
All in all, we have to stop putting these celebrities so much on a pedestal to where we dethrone our own standards. When we see relationships ending and people separating, we need to stop projecting our own shame onto them.
Rather than looking at relationships from this “success or failure” lens, I think we can move forward as a collective when we empower ourselves to see the beauty in relationships regardless of how they ended. Endings can be a beautiful thing, we just have to reframe our relationships to change.
It’s more empowering to view all relationships as a success because you got a chance to experience someone in a way you might have needed to experience in order to learn more about yourself, even if you haven’t been able to integrate the lesson just yet.
Relationships are not about possession and control. It’s not about owning or tethering yourself to someone who is not for you, that’s codependency and to be completely honest with you all, there’s no one to blame for this frame of thinking because society has conditioned us to be this way.
Society has programmed us into believing that love is all about this constant sacrificing of yourself for another person, that it's this disowning of yourself for another person.
Time and time again people get into relationships completely abandoning themselves just to say they have someone, just to feel needed, wanted, and desired rather than learning that healthy relationships are about keeping who it is that you are and maintaining a healthy relationship dynamic with another person. It’s not one or the other, both go hand in hand
Healthy relationships do not require you to “compromise” your core values. That’s not love, that’s fear.
And so when we can get to the point where we move out of this framework of codependent love, needing someone to be who we need them to be, spending years in a marriage waiting for the other person to step up, waiting for them to change, we will finally start to see that actually is not loving at all. Therefore, we would be on our way to healthier relationships and support people who decide to separate or get a divorce.
Relationships End and That's Okay
We have to get to this point where we’re able to move out of patterns of codependency and move beyond expecting everyone and everything to stay together because it makes us feel good. Love is about honoring a person's journey which also means recognizing when a relationship is approaching the end of its season. Real love is about respecting and honoring that person's journey enough to let them go.
Love and honor them so much that it transcends beyond the physical. Love them so much that you let them journey in this lifetime on their own schedule and go wherever it is they need to go, whether it is with you or not.
We’re not always going to able to go with people because not every person is meant to go with us, not every relationship is meant to last forever so I commend anyone who has the courage to end a relationship that is no longer a good fit for them.
Sometimes our differences with someone are so polarizing that we just can’t coexist in a romantic relationship together and that’s okay. Now, is that to say the whole entire relationship failed? Absolutely not.
If both people have tried and put their best foot forward, it’s a success.
Anything that brings you back to yourself at the end of the day is a blessing, anything that teaches you how to love yourself more, anything that teaches you how to stand firm in your boundaries, anything that teaches you to stop betraying yourself, that's a success.
At the end of the day, you got to share an experience with someone who you loved and learn something about yourself in the process, even if it didn’t last for a lifetime.
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It is now autumn, which means most people will be staying in more and going out less. And what better way to stay home than to stream new series/ movies or binge old favorites? This October, Netflix and HBO Max have everything you need to binge-watch the right way. From Yvonne Orji’s HBO comedy special A Whole Me to the highly-anticipated third season of Netflix’s Love Is Blind, October’s got you covered.
So grab your blanket and check out all that’s new and exciting on Netflix and HBO Max this month.
What’s New on Netflix: October 2022
October 1
17 Again
30 Minutes or Less
60 Days In, season 3
Any Given Sunday
Barbie: It Takes Two, season 2
Call Me by Your Name
Charlotte’s Web (2006)
Chocolat
City Slickers
The Color Purple
Gladiator
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
I Love You, Man
Labyrinth
Land of the Lost
Last Seen Alive
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
National Lampoon’s European Vacation
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Ocean’s Eleven
Ocean’s Thirteen
Ocean’s Twelve
Point Break (1991)
Risky Business
Robin Hood
Runaway Bride
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 3
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Sex and the City 2
Sex and the City: The Movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
Vegas Vacation
Walking Tall
Wedding Crashers
Yes Man
October 2
Forever Queens — Netflix Series
October 3
Chip and Potato, season 4 — Netflix Family
Jexi
October 4
Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester — Netflix Comedy
October 5
Bling Empire, season 3 — Netflix Series
High Water — Netflix Series
Jumping From High Places — Netflix Film
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone — Netflix Film
Nailed It!, season 7 — Netflix Series
The Fight for Justice: Paolo Guerrero — Netflix Series
The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave — Netflix Documentary
Togo — Netflix Film
October 6
Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake — Netflix Documentary
The Joys and Sorrows of Young Yuguo — Netflix Documentary
October 7
Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes — Netflix Documentary
Derry Girls, season 3 — Netflix Series
Doll House — Netflix Film
Glitch — Netflix Series
Kev Adams: The Real Me — Netflix Comedy
Luckiest Girl Alive — Netflix Film
Man on Pause — Netflix Series
The Midnight Club — Netflix Series
The Mole — Netflix Series
Oddballs — Netflix Family
Old People — Netflix Film
The Redeem Team — Netflix Documentary
Tiger & Bunny 2, Part 2 — Netflix Anime
October 9
Missing Link
October 10
LEGO Ninjago, season 4
Crystallized, part 2
Spirit Rangers — Netflix Family
October 11
The Cage — Netflix Series
DEAW#13 Udom Taephanich Stand-up Comedy Show — Netflix Comedy
Iliza Shlesinger: Hot Forever — Netflix Comedy
Island of the Sea Wolves — Netflix Documentary
October 12
Belascoarán, PI — Netflix Series
Blackout
Easy-Bake Battle — Netflix Series
The Nutty Boy — Netflix Family
Wild Croc Territory — Netflix Series
October 13
Dead End: Paranormal Park, season 2 — Netflix Family
Exception — Netflix Anime
The Playlist — Netflix Series
The Sinner, season 4: Percy
Someone Borrowed — Netflix Film
Sue Perkins: Perfectly Legal — Netflix Series
October 14
Black Butterflies — Netflix Series
The Curse of Bridge Hollow — Netflix Film
Everything Calls for Salvation — Netflix Series
Holy Family — Netflix Series
Mismatched, season 2 — Netflix Series
Take 1 — Netflix Series
October 15
Blippi’s Spooky Spell Halloween
Under the Queen’s Umbrella — Netflix Series
October 16
Dracula Untold
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
October 17
Waffles + Mochi’s Restaurant — Netflix Family
October 18
Gabriel Iglesias: Stadium Fluffy Live From Los Angeles — Netflix Comedy
LiSA Another Great Day — Netflix Documentary
Somebody Feed Phil, season 6 — Netflix Series
Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 3 — Netflix Series (new episodes weekly)
October 19
The Green Glove Gang — Netflix Series
Love Is Blind, season 3 — Netflix Series (new episodes weekly)
Notre-Dame — Netflix Series
The School for Good and Evil — Netflix Film
The Stranger — Netflix Film
October 21
28 Days Haunted — Netflix Series
Barbarians II — Netflix Series
Descendant — Netflix Documentary
From Scratch — Netflix Series
High: Confession of an Ibiza Drug Mule — Netflix Series
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale — Netflix Family
Pokémon Ultimate Journeys — Netflix Family
October 22
LOL Surprise! Winter Fashion Show
October 23
Franco Escamilla: Eavesdropping — Netflix Comedy
October 24
The Chalk Line — Netflix Film
October 25
Barbie Epic Road Trip — Netflix Family
Blade of the 47 Ronin
Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune — Netflix Comedy
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities — Netflix Series
October 26
Fugitive: The Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn — Netflix Documentary
The Good Nurse — Netflix Film
Hellhole — Netflix Film
Robbing Mussolini — Netflix Film
October 27
Cici — Netflix Film
Daniel Spellbound — Netflix Family
Dubai Bling — Netflix Series
Earthstorm — Netflix Documentary
Family Reunion: Part 5 — Netflix Family
Hotel Transylvania 2
Romantic Killer — Netflix Anime
October 28
All Quiet on the Western Front — Netflix Film
The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself — Netflix Series
Big Mouth, season 6 — Netflix Series
Drink Masters — Netflix Series
I Am a Stalker — Netflix Documentary
If Only — Netflix Series
My Encounter With Evil — Netflix Documentary
Wendell & Wild — Netflix Film
Wild is the Wind — Netflix Film
October 29
Deadwind, season 3 — Netflix Series
What’s new on HBO Max: October 2022
October 1
Æon Flux, 2005 (HBO)
Along Came A Spider, 2001 (HBO)
Bad News Bears, 2005 (HBO)
Bad Teacher, 2011
Before I Fall, 2017 (HBO)
Before Mickey Mouse: A History of American Animation
Black Nativity, 2013 (Director's Cut) (HBO)
Blackthorn, 2011 (HBO)
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, 1969
C.R.A.Z.Y., 2005
Call Me By Your Name, 2017
Century of Animation Showcase: 1922, 2022
Charlie St. Cloud, 2010 (HBO)
Christmas in Connecticut, 1945
Coneheads, 1993 (HBO)
Disclosure, 1994 (HBO)
District 9, 2009 (HBO)
Down Terrace, 2009 (HBO)
Dude Where's My Car?, 2000 (HBO)
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), 2020
Fair Game, 2010 (HBO)
Federico Fellini's Intervista, 1987
Frank, 2014 (HBO)
Freedomland, 2006 (HBO)
Grand Piano, 2013 (HBO)
Hoosiers, 1986 (HBO)
Hot Summer Nights, 2017 (HBO)
Hotel Mumbai, 2018 (HBO)
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, 1988 (HBO)
Jumper, 2008 (HBO)
Juno, 2007 (HBO)
Kiss The Girls, 1997
La ronde, 1950
Let's Be Cops, 2014
Little Women, 1933
Luci del Varieta, 1950
Max Steiner: Maestro of Movie Music, 2019
Meet the Spartans, 2008 (Extended Version) (HBO)
Miracle in Milan, 1951
My Best Friend's Girl, 2008 (Extended Version) (HBO)
Navy Seals, 1990 (HBO)
Nightcrawler, 2014 (HBO)
No Place on Earth, 2012 (HBO)
Nothing But Trouble,1991 (HBO)
Oliver!, 1968
Open Season 2, 2008
Open Season, 2006
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, 2016 (HBO)
Promised Land, 2012 (HBO)
Rock Dog, 2016 (HBO)
Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob!
S.W.A.T. (Movie), 2003
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, 2012 (HBO)
Slacker, 1990
Spotlight, 2015 (HBO)
Terms of Endearment, 1983 (HBO)
The Adventures of Pinocchio, 1996
The American President, 1995
The Bad News Bears, 1976 (HBO)
The Bad News Bears Go To Japan, 1978 (HBO)
The Bad News Bears In Breaking Training, 1977 (HBO)
The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957
The Eye, 2008 (HBO)
The Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia , 2013
The Perfect Host, 2010 (HBO)
The Perfect Storm, 2000
The Swimming Pool, 1969
The Two Faces of January, 2014
The Witch, 2015 (HBO)
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, 2012 (HBO)
To The Wonder, 2012
Twisted, 2004 (HBO)
Waist Deep, 2006 (HBO)
Whose Line is It Anyway?, Season 9
Yvonne Orji: A Whole Me, Special Premiere (HBO)
October 2
101 Places to Party Before You Die, Season 1
Housing Complex C
October 5
Eraser: Reborn, 2022
October 6
Folklore, Max Original Seasons 2 Premiere
Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler, Max Original Season 3 Premiere
Wahl Street, Max Original Season 2 Premiere
October 7
Habla Loud, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
October 8
Straight Out of Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, 2021
October 9
We Baby Bears S1E
October 10
Avenue 5, Season 2 Premiere (HBO)
Oh Hell, Max Original Season 1 Premiere
October 11
38 at the Garden, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
October 14
Blippi Wonders, Season 2A
Fixer Upper: The Castle
October 15
Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, 2022
October 17
Mr. Pickles
The Vow, Part Two Documentary Series Premiere (HBO)
October 18
Batwheels, Season 1B Premiere
By Design: The Joe Caroff Story
Mama's Boy, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
Meet the Batwheels, Season 1A
October 19
Year One: A Political Odyssey, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
October 20
Legacy, Max Original Season 1 Premiere
The Fastest Woman on Earth, 2022
October 21
Restoration Road with Clint Harp Season 3
Teen Titans Go! Season 7D
Vale Dos Esquecidos, Max Original Season 1 Premiere
October 23
La Pitchoune: Cooking in France Season 1
October 24
Green Lantern: Beware My Power, 2022
October 26
A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
October 28
Garcia, Max Original Season 1 Premiere
October 30
The Lost Kitchen, Season 3
The White Lotus, Season 2 Premiere (HBO)
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