Uncommon Gifts for Your Partner

Perhaps you share presents with your partner on birthdays and holidays. Fabulous! Consider another kind of gift as well; the kind of gift that has an ongoing impact on the bond you share. Beware however! These could cost you a softening of the ego. 

1.     The gift of respect even when you don't understand his or her thinking.

2.     The gift of learning about what is interesting to your partner even when it's not naturally interesting to you.

3.     The gift of disagreeing with your partner without him or her being wrong.

4.     The gift of appreciation for your partner's daily acts and talents, the ones that are so easy to take for granted.

5.     The gift of releasing your partner from responsibility for making you happy. (That's been your responsibility all along.) 

6.     The gift of forgiveness for a wrong. Really. This is a perfect time to let it go. 

7.     The gift of not expecting him or her to reciprocate. 

Your relationship is like a garden. It takes regular attention and tending. There's feeding and weeding, of course, and there's getting up-to-date with the challenges of each new season. What kind of attention is your relationship calling for now? Each gift you offer bears fruit for YOU as well as the one you care about.