Something Ms Monroe said about not handling you at your worst, therefore not deserving you at your best.

I don't think I've ever written about the subject of relationships properly for two main reasons. The first being it's an overused topic and the second, I tried to post a video about it once and it turned into a subject of ridicule. However, in light of recent events, bear with me while I write.

I will spare you all the personal details because I know the real readers of this blog just read it for the occasional jokes. Bottom line: relationships are difficult. WOAH! Yes, they are difficult to engage in, they are even more difficult to maintain. It takes a lot of time, patience, effort and careful planning to have a real relationship and, unfortunately, I'm lacking in all of those qualities. The one thing I have that I like to think I exude in most things I do, let alone relationships and friendships in general, is passion. I live for love and I don't intend to change that.

You will find that once you embark on a proper serious relationship you will sail past the honeymoon stage before you know it and when the 4 month mark hits, you will have your first series of proper arguments based on things you've noticed in the honeymoon period that piss you off. If you make it through the first series of fights, well done, you're on to the next stage. You can enjoy a buffer period of about a month and a half between the next series of fights.

About 6 months into a relationship the deeper fights start that are disagreements about your personality or other deeper issues. Most relationships can't get past this because people in general are disinclined to compromise when it comes to their own conventions of character. If you make it past these few weeks of heavy arguments, well done. You've now made it further than most relationships and you start to feel like you can't really live without your partner.

At this point you can enjoy a couple months of plain sailing before the real bad shit starts. At a point between 8 months and 1 year you will have the worst arguments you've had so far. The ones that completely define the relationship itself. At this point you and your partner will have started to depend on each other to the point where you actually need each other. If you break up at this point or later, good luck coping. I know I would probably be driven insane.

What I'm trying to say is that nobody should take relationships lightly and if you do, good luck keeping one. I used to take them lightly which led to a series of mistakes and failed unities. I count myself very fortunate that I do have a relationship at all, let alone the fact that I feel fully invested in it, even if it feels like an uphill struggle in a hurricane with no legs and a rusty wheelchair at points.

In the end, it wouldn't really be worth it if it was that easy after over a year. What really makes it worthwhile is that we're still here after all the shit, even if marginally at points. My relationship itself did not really conform to any of the stereotypical timelines, but I did say that I was going to spare the personal details.

I love you and I'm sorry for all I've put you through.

Good morning, the interwebz.