The Whole Point of Every Relationship...

Natasha Blank is not an expert on relationships, but she’s had a bunch, and here are a few things she’s learned from them.

I'm not an expert on relationships, but I've had a bunch and learned from them.

At least enough to gain some intellectual insight that (hopefully) translates over time into a living breathing shift of being.

Turns out, it's not about making each other happy, or any other kind of imagined perfection.

It's about helping the person in front of you be everything they truly are.

Here are some ways to do that.
1. Hold each other accountable.
Understand the gift your partner is here to give this world.
2. Call bullshit.
Reflect when he or she isn't giving it.
3. Let go.
Trust in your partner’s separate journey, even when what their doing makes zero sense to you.
4. Remember that your job is not to make your partner happy.
It's to allow them the space to find their own happiness—when you're together, and when you're apart.
5. Be honest. 
One hundred percent. The permission you give yourself to be all of who you are is what creates that space.
6. Fight well.
You're both on the same team. Your opposition is the misunderstanding—not each other.
7. Embrace attraction to others.
It's there. Communicate, be clear (with everyone, including yourself), and enjoy your fabulous human existence.
8. Do your work.
It's usually not about him, or her. Your partner is a flashlight illuminating where you've still got work to do. Those feelings of jealousy, resentment and hurt? They're showing you all the places in you that need your own healing.
9. Remember that you're a mirror, too.
Reflect back all the beauty that lives in your partner. Especially when he or she forgets.
 10. Enjoy the ride, man!
Seriously. You're never going to figure it all out, so you might as well just love everybody.

This list is totally incomplete. Have some of your own lessons from the road to share? Post in the comments below. We all thank you.

Originally appeared at Elephant Journal

About Natasha Blank:

Natasha Blank is a dancer, dj, integrative healer, and the founder of Get Your Dance On. She creates collective experiences that feed our hunger for life through radical self expression, and plays in the spaces where creativity and healing meet. She is also in the midst of dancing every single day for a year, and invites you to join her. You can find out more about her journey at Get Your Dance On