Gratitude, Boundaries, and My Perception Of Love in Relationships

Creating a healthy relationship with yourself and others leads to a fulfilling life. These prompts are an invitation to step inside yourself. Take a deep breath. Shuffle the deck. Pull a card. Write your heart out. Rupi Kaur

Take a deep breath and write from the heart

Stepping inside oneself is not easy from the start

It does get easier as I start by throwing a dart.

or pulling the card out of the deck is smart.

Rupi Kaur’s Relationship Writing Prompts — I’m grateful to have _______ in my life because ______________.

Grateful to have … Miigwech Giizheymanido, (Thank you kind and loving spirit in the Ojibwe language)

Because… Thank you, Creator/God, for John, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, and future generations. Thank you for all their families and partners. Thank you for my recovery.

Thank you for my sister friends and my brothers and all their families and partners. Thank you for all living things and the beauty of the world we are living in. Please give extra attention to those suffering from addiction, and those grieving and ill.

Miigwech for Nibi and all of the water walkers and sisters in this important cause. Miigwech!

Thank you for helping me to do the work that I need to do and for being with me when writing and working on my book project.

Rupi Kaur’s Relationship Writing Prompts — What are the boundaries you want to set in a romantic relationship?

Open communication. Clear sharing of what is on your mind. Love always, not liking at times is okay. Talking only when sober about problems for me. Absolutely no domestic violence in areas of sex, battering, or verbal abuse. Never okay!

Family and humor are important. No ongoing crabbiness. Get rid of that or get help.

Through sickness and in health, except active alcoholism. Did that and done with that. Working a recovery program, religion or culture are all possible methods that can be incorporated into our life. No dry drunks, or active codependency. I don’t need anyone taking my inventory, but me.

It is important to share the “Won’t go there, do that, live with that, be that, etc.” My experience was similar to what the book below alludes to, when I entered recovery. I haven’t read the book though.

Rupi Kaur’s Relationship Writing Prompts — How have the relationships you witnessed growing up shaped your perception of love?

My mother was a strong, independent woman

I thought she could do anything a man

could do, even better. Her relationships

after my dad died was two ships

passing in the night. Much of the time, they were friends

even after the intimacy came to the ends.

She had a son with one and she was still a good friend.

No domestic violence happened in my home

There were stories to prevent that from happening to bemoan

Alcoholism was the standard. No longer, I was glad,

relationships with an alcoholic after my dad.

~~

I can love alcoholics and do. I have learned it’s better a sober

alcoholic than drinking alcoholics. It took a while until October

of 1999. My relationship was sober and working a program

He is the charm and we were friends first! Damn

Our relationship is built on not taking ourselves too seriously

Learned that and how family is so important curiously

he would say it is more important than anything else

He isn’t sure that discipline is quite the same without belts

so it’s a good thing we didn’t raise children together as they were grown

and I learned that we can have differences and we do or I may be alone.

My mother loved every one, but I didn’t know that until adulthood

A woman helped me by saying I didn’t have to like everyone, that was good

but then she said I just have to love everyone! Now it’s understood!

~~~~

First published by Mercury Press on medium.com