Promise #6: Get away from the world of fools breaking you down

Apr, 20 2010
By Tracey
Love
One comment

Every night is date night when you’re living in paradise. Wednesday night is date night when you’re not.

My husband and I started our date night ritual before it was part of the vernacular. That was 14 years ago (not counting our “real” dating years). If you do the math, we’ve enjoyed more than 700 dates.

I’m not 100% sure, but that might be as many dates as Date Night Director Shawn Levy has had with his wife. The only difference is that we’re not a bit bored.

Our ritual started like the Levy’s—we always visited the same restaurant, ordered the same food, etc. A year later, we moved far away (from the restaurant) and started a family. Many things changed, but our commitment to date night endured.

How? We make it easy to enjoy. We don’t go anywhere. We merely travel to the bar in our basement. We don’t need a sitter or a plan or a block of time. There’s no traffic. No crowd. No hoopla. No reservations required. We sit in the same spot. We enjoy the same drink(s). The only thing that changes is the conversation. It’s a beautiful thing.

If you google “date night” you’ll plummet into a virtual landfill of ideas: snow shoe tours (exhausting), cake decorating (stupid), RV romance (senior), hot tub love (expected)…

The key to date night is acknowledging the cheesy brilliance behind the Bee Gees’ classic “How Deep Is Your Love.” For us, date night is about doing the one thing we’ve always loved doing: hanging out, talking, laughing and bantering a bit. On a good night I’m reminded why I fell in love 16 years ago. On a bad night (it happens, we’re human) I’m reminded why I’m still in it to win it: “we are living in a world of fools breaking us down when they all should let us be”…for at least one night a week.

Promise #5: Pinch yourself

Apr, 15 2010
By Tracey
Moxie
2 Comments

This is not “pinch yourself” as in “you must be dreaming.” It’s “pinch yourself” as in “this is for your own good.” Big difference.

Can you count the number of times someone told you something was going to feel like a pinch? How about how many times that something was for your greater good? Pinches are necessary (evils) for improvements. Or, a better way to say it: pinch leads to pleasure.

If you want to figure out what your pinch is, figure out what you hope to attain. A slimmer, trimmer you? The pinch is diet and exercise. A new job? The pinch is a search, class or (maybe) career change. A smooth upper lip? Hot wax. More respect? Less excuses.

I’m sure you get the point. Close your eyes. Squish up your face. Take the pinch. Pleasure is just a promise away.