Learn from the mistakes of others

very few males can live up to the 'shining knight' ideal either. is one reason many relationships fail - unrealistic expectations. [stares blankly for a moment]

the shiny knight is pretty though. just as the 'trapped princess' is all pretty and nice-like. but neither is realistic.

but in the end, real people are messy, and tired, and smell sometimes, people age. they change. and need help, and can't do everything, and just want to lay down and wait for the bad stuff to go away ... it's hard enough working at relationships, without having to go through hell to 'prove' yourself. don quixote was insane.

love is never pure, or unchanged. and it shouldn't have to be. it should be gritty, and real. it should ebb and flow, pulse like blood. it should lie under, and betwixt, and entwined within everything else in the relationship. a strength that connects two people.

expecting endless, rushing passion all the time kills. sometimes literally.

lasting relationship differ madly, but most do not meet the 'romantic' ideal, instead, they have a real solid romance founded upon respect, trust, hope, and forgiveness. and the desire to keep trying. and the regular effort to do so. that is the true measure of a relationship - how hard each person is willing to put themselves on the line to try to make it work.