Autonomy

My husband will be travelling a lot this month.  In the next four weeks, we'll probably spend just as much time apart as together. His travels are service oriented and it's something his soul compels him to do.  And I'll support him just as he would support me.

I am grateful for this part of our relationship.  We move autonomously, knowing we will always come back to each other.  If one of us wants to do something, go somewhere, we do it.  There's no asking for permission, there is no "letting."  And we support each other.

When our relationship was new, I always felt that somehow being his life-partner opened more doors than closed them.  I knew this was the truth although I could never figure out why I felt this way until recently. It's because, in reality, we don't need each other.  We both can run our household without the other. We know that each of us can take care of ourselves and our children without help.  We're both emotionally and spiritually strong and extremely capable.  It's because of this we can both do as we please and all we need to do is coordinate schedules and resources.  It's a blessing and it's one of the reasons why our relationship works.

And not needing each other is, in itself, very powerful. We stay together not because we need each other, but because we choose to.  Loving someone and staying with that person should be a choice, not a necessity.