The Rules to Break, 2nd Edition

RULE TO BREAK

“Don’t sacrifice yourself for a relationship”

I have one friend who has been fairly consistently single all his life. I think his longest relationship has been around six months. Perhaps I should put this into perspective by adding that he’s in his late forties. When I’ve talked to him about it, he always says that he’d love to find the right person, but it would have to be a relationship for which he didn’t have to make sacrifices to fit into his life.

If you’ve reached your late forties without a serious relationship, I suppose you could think that made sense. I’ve certainly known lots of people who have held this view in their twenties and thirties. I’ve also known several survivors of unpleasant divorces who have taken refuge ...