Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Have you ever been to one of your kid’s sporting events where the writing is on the wall from the first pitch that you’re totally outmatched? Like you know before the game even starts that it’s going to be an absolute drubbing? And you know you’re just going to have to sit through it because there is literally no way out until the last inning ends?

I’m sure this has happened to us all in some capacity, even if your kids don’t play sports. Well, it happened to my daughter’s team the other day and it was brutal.

And not because they lost… badly. That’s going to happen.

What made it brutal was the other team. They used every opportunity to steal bases despite being up more runs than I could count. Their coaches argued every close call to ensure that the ump “really” saw the call right. They huffed and they puffed and surely blew us all down.

And it was so disappointing!

Our girls were clearly outmatched and the other team did everything they could to show us that over and over again… just because they could.

Now I’m NOT a ‘let’s all be fair and play nice’ sorta gal when it comes to sports. Games ending in a tie drive me crazy and I think that if you sign up to play you need to know that one team is going to win and the other is going to lose.

I also believe that just because you can… doesn’t mean you should. There are opportunities on the field AND in love where you need to know the difference between getting your point across versus ripping the other person to shreds.

When it comes to communication, to relationships, to love… just because you can…doesn’t mean you should.

Just because you can fight with harsh words… doesn’t mean you should.
Just because you can bring up the past to really prove your point… doesn’t mean you should.
Just because you know your partner’s insecurities… doesn’t mean you should dig into them.

When it comes to your relationship remembering that just because you can… doesn’t mean you should… is beyond valuable.

Trust me.

Until next week,

-A

P.S. If you find yourself taking the ‘bait’ too often in your relationship, reach out. Let’s work together to reset that pattern and help the two of you feel safer in your communication.