If there's something you should never allow your partner do, it's to treat you like an option rather than like a priority.
I've said time and time again that we should never expect our partner to complete us, as only we can achieve that.
However, it's fair game to lean toward our partner when:
- We've had a rotten day and could use a little pick-me-up through their support and encouragement
- We've experienced a happy moment or occurrence -- whether a promotion or achievement of some other personal/professional milestone -- and would like to share it with them
- We're facing a tough challenge or decision and would value their input
But if your partner treats you like you're secondary to other matters or people, you've got a major problem on your hands -- one that needs to be addressed immediately before tensions escalate further.
Maybe you've been yearning for a date night with her for months, but says she has to work late or already made plans with friends.
Perhaps you've been wanting to stay in and watch a great flick like you did in the old days, but he'd rather play video games or read.
Granted, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with using these as reasons on occasion.
After all, we all have to work late from time to time, and surely there have been instances where we've yielded to our friends' preferences/plans being that they're visiting from out of town or hosting a special event in which they'd like us to take part. Maybe we're not feeling well and want a little distance to play or read, assuring them it isn't personal.
But once these reasons become frequent excuses, that's a different ballgame entirely.
If your partner is chronically late to dinner because they're supposedly working late, it's not ludicrous to wonder whether something else is at play. Do they have someone on the side? Are they unhappy in the relationship and using work as a pretext to spend less time with you?
Rather than speculate, ask your partner -- in a cool-and-collected manner -- why they've distanced themselves.
Maybe it wasn't intentional. They could have hit a rough patch and haven't been candid about it. But even so, you have to wonder why they don't open up to their own partner of all people.
In the worst scenarios, it's unfortunately because they don't care. They may indeed be cheating or have otherwise checked out of the relationship completely, putting their partner a distant second behind work, hobbies, and other things.
If talking about it with him or her seems to be getting you nowhere, the ball is in your court. You could wait around hoping they'll eventually come to their senses, or pack your bags.
Either way, once someone has reached this level of indifference, the relationship may be beyond saving. You need to ask yourself way before this -- once you start noticing patterns of unseemly behavior -- whether you deserve better.
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