LAUREN QUIRKE - The Real Deal with relationships in 2020

The Real Deal with Relationships in 2020

By Lauren Quirke

After almost a decade with my husband, three tiny humans and building a successful business i get asked regularly for advice on how i make it all work and the simple truth is this:

I only have space for REALATIONSHIPS.

In the time I have known and loved my husband we have had our fair share of ups and downs. We have fought and floundered. We have battled and braved many of storm together. If there is one thing that I have learned from our relationship it would be that you have to stay true to you and your partner has got to do the same. I don’t believe in measuring success within a relationship, there is not good and bad, the lines are blurred and there is no black and white on the page of your love story.

This year my husband and I will renew our vows, a decision we made based on two things. Firstly, neither of us can remember our original and traditional vows but secondly and arguably more importantly we are not the same two people who stood in front of our friends and family and declared our love. In the time since our original wedding we have both grown into new people. I am not the same woman I was then, and he is not the same man. Our tandem journey has involved disagreements, vulnerability and a heck of a lot of uncomfortable conversations and yet here we stand. Two different people, still in love, still willing to commit to each other and to me, that calls for celebration. I was the first to embark

on my journey of self-exploration and surrender to my spirituality and follow my soul. He watched for a long time, probably convinced that he married a mad woman.

Soon after I started to see the changes in him, he became more willing to step out of his comfort zone, try new things, read new books, he even meditates now – the man I married NEVER would have meditated. Here is the thing about being in a relationship in 2020, this is the secret that we discovered that equates to our success. We don’t have a relationship, we have a REALATIONSHIP.

A Relationship is exactly how it sounds. We choose every day to remain true to ourselves and follow our souls, but we also choose every day to facilitate the other in their journey. At the end of the day it comes down to being honest with yourself and your partner, committing to your personal growth and giving your partner the grace to walk their own path. I like to think of us as two vines who grow side by side, we are two individuals who wrap around each other but grow separately, sometimes one vine gets more water or sun and grows a little faster but side by side they remain. The real deal with relationships in 2020 is simple. Create a REALATIONSHIP and stay true to you.