26 May Reason, Season or a Lifetime?
It’s been a while since I’ve posted and that’s because my last two blog posts inspired a deep dive into relationships, specifically, Lifetime Committed Relationships. Since then I have launched a new Facebook Group and my new Signature Coaching Program both named “Becoming Committed”. It’s been quite the process and I wanted to update my blog and share it with you.
First, I want to say that my focus on Lifetime Committed Relationships is not because I believe they are more important or valuable than other types of relationships. As I said in my previous post, we need many supportive relationships in our lives to have our needs met and get us to where we want to be. Which ones are a priority depends on the individual. The reality is, not everyone wants a Lifetime Committed Relationship. One statistic we can measure is the decline of marriages by 60% in the last 50 years. Meanwhile, the online dating industry is projecting over 400 million users in 2023.
Second, I believe Lifetime Committed Relationships are particularly challenging for many reasons. My personal development journey started with therapy and a relationship seminar because I was struggling in my own relationship and I wanted to fix it. Statistically, most committed relationships end. Divorce rates for first marriages are holding steady at around 50%, while the percentage rises up to 80% for subsequent attempts. Cohabitational relationships end at a rate of 65%.
Side note: Even finding the right term to use was difficult! I settled on Lifetime Committed Relationship because it is inclusive but also specific in the fact that it is a relationship that a person or people commit to for the rest of their lives.
*For the definition of commitment, see the post titled Commitment Issues.
All of this got me thinking… How does anybody make a relationship last a lifetime? Even if only one percent of people on dating sites desire a lifetime commitment, that’s still over 4 million people that could benefit from exploring this subject. And so, I got to work, writing down everything I’ve learned in over a decade relating to personal development within the context of relationships. I could spend the rest of my life researching what makes relationships successful, and I probably will, seeing as I’m 18 years into my own Committed Lifetime Relationship, so it’s personal.
Stay tuned as the relationship series continues…
Veronica Weston
Personal Development Coach