“I love you…but I love me more.” Besides doing Sex & the City trivia, how many times have you used that line in real life? It’s what happens when someone, other than Samantha Jones, realizes that she’s gotten herself in way too deep. It’s when it suddenly dawns on you that you’ve gotten yourself into a relationship that you’re not ready to commit to because you haven’t finished getting to know yourself quite yet.
First, let’s rewind and go over an important ‘must’ before you get too overwhelmed. Your first, real ‘from death do us part’ relationship is the one with ‘I.’
With this dynamic, your basic lingo revolves around terms like ‘me time,’ ‘my day,’ or anything that pertains to singular terms only. This self-concerned nature makes meeting a potential someone more complicated because your verbiage is going to be altered. It must be.
Now, let’s go over a few phases we all gradually go through in relationships. Bringing them to your attention will hopefully prepare you for the bumpy transition from ‘me’ to ‘we.’ Don’t worry. I’ll try to make the ride as smooth as possible.
Talking Phase
This could take anywhere from 2 days to 4 months, depending on one’s personality and sexual frustration. At this point, you’re so comfortable with ‘I’ and ‘my’ that it’s almost as if this new person is invading ‘your’ space. Yet you want them there, which means you must learn how to cope and compromise…slightly. You’re nowhere near the ‘Carrie/Aidan’ move-in stage, so hang on to your heels and don’t go fleeing for Starbucks just yet!
Chilling Phase (Note: Pants Are Still On)
Again, this phase may last anywhere between days to weeks to months, provided we control our insatiable yet perfectly natural sex drives. Ladies, I know you have some patience in those groin muscles! Remember, he’s more than a center-fold, and you want to get to know him for his other attributes. This is the time where you bring out the whip & crack open your mental list: humor (Check.), chivalry (Check.), familia-closeness (Check.), intelligence with humility (Eh, one sec. Okay, check.) These are the ingredients that take us to phase three.
Let’s ‘Dance’ Phase
OK, you’ve waited long enough. I’m sure you’re relieved. Minor strip-teases are thus allowed in Phase 3. But more importantly, you’ve unknowingly become comfortable with him hanging around you and your girlfriends. He’s made a good enough impression with you (and them) to have lasted this long and your singular verbiage is starting to wane.
Jumping Ship (You’ve Gone Overboard!)
Head over heels, perhaps? Oh my, the butterflies are fluttering like crazy and you are teeter-tottering on sanity because you’ve fallen hard for this potential ‘someone.’ But the real throat-tightening clincher is going to come the first time you say ‘we.’ You know it, it’s almost as monumental as ‘I love you,’ but when you go from ‘I use my oven to hold my magazines’ to ‘We love to host dinner parties,’ you know something has shifted on the inside of you and now it’s time for the magic to happen.
Make sense? When you are aware of the process that ensues when you go from singlehood to mingle-hood, you’re that much more prepared for the transition. I’m talking about the transition that takes place internally when you mentally, spiritually and emotionally shift your independent language to one of co-dependence. It takes some time to get used to but if he’s worth it, you’ll know, and it’ll be smooth sailing. Bon voyage chicas!
Are you working on the ‘I’ or ‘We’ right now?
