Life, ‪‎love and ‎relationships are so much easier when you ‪‎partner with someone who 'gets you.' This is not to suggest you will not experience disagreements, have different opinions or ‪‎perspectives, feel angry, disappointed, sad or any other human ‪‎emotion.

Instead, it means you will not need to explain or apologize for being your ‎authentic self. The other person will not view you as a 'fixer upper' or a 'Build-A-Woman' or 'Build-A-Man' project where they try to 'Frankenstein' you into who they want you to be, because they were not ‪‎honest with you (or self) that they really thought you were not good enough.

When you enter into these type of relationships, you spend way too much ‎time and ‪‎energy trying to avoid the box the other person is trying to stuff you in or ‎fighting your way out of said box. What kind of life is that?

In the words of my European ‪‎kayaking mate who I met years ago on the river, 'Go where you are celebrated.' - Misha N. Granado, MPH, MS