What Is Your Best Relationship Advice?

You would think after seventy-plus years of traveling through the universe, including fifty-plus years of marriage, I would have a clue. I don’t. I could parrot what the experts spout. They, of course, have built their tenets, often on research and dissertations they themselves wrote or colleagues that match their way of thinking. How about therapists selling advice? Depends, I found seventeen unique flavors.

To quote a fictitious character, Jack Reacher’s mom, “Do the right thing.” If you achieve that mantra, then with any luck, positive karma will follow.

To quote a real person Joe Rogan, “If you want my advice, don’t take my advice?”

I keep typing, hoping to be inspired, finding that definitive answer so as not to disappoint. What is the best advice to give to individuals in a relationship spawned from different backgrounds, raised within different value systems, lives lived with unique experiences, grasping set of personal dreams and aspirations, unique DNA, and personalities types, 16 to be exact?

Fill in the blanks, “Either become (…) or just be (…) and long for (…).”

So, I’ll offer this: “Listen with care, ponder with empathy, respond compassionately.”

“Listening is an art that requires attention over talent, spirit over ego, others over self.” – Dean Jackson

“Honor your relationships by developing listening skills.”–Allan Lokos