I’m looking for 20 steps to keep your partner committed forever.
Do you have the answer? If you have been in a partnership for fifteen years or more, to what do you owe your success?
Some couples don’t seem to be able to get their marriage launched successfully, while others keep it going for 50-plus years. Is there a formula to follow? What are your thoughts?
Please respond to the short survey below—I’m gathering information for my new book, 20 Secrets to Long-Term Commitment.
I think I'll keep the animal prints to handbags only.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Saturday, May 19, “Just One Color” is the look of the moment—monochromatic. Basically, according to this article, all the big designers have just discovered this—yet I have known it since I was about 20 years old. Wearing all one color makes me look taller and probably slimmer. Nothing that cuts you in half at the middle has the same effect, and I’ve never been a proponent of wild or bold animal prints. The Today Show recently had a woman hyping animal prints shirts with python backgrounds as the latest female fashion. Come on, women are smarter than that. When is the last time you saw a man in a cheetah print shirt? No one would take him seriously.
But back to just one color and the article in the Journal. A couple of famous designers, Proenza Schouler, claimed to recently have had a vision: “We were looking at Everest covered in snow. It was so pristine and majestic.” This apparently kicked of their fall 2012 runway show of simple, clean lines—no texture or crazy prints. They’re going for the monochromatic look in muted tones. Hasn’t Calvin Klein been doing this for years? Well, never mind, I certainly have. I’ll do anything to look taller and slimmer.
I’m generally in a fashion crisis and never have anything to wear despite a packed closet that it is difficult to even enter. Half of the stuff no longer fits, the other half is out of style for the moment, and the rest I can’t wear because it’s been too hot in Florida this year. But when I choose slacks and a matching shirt of grey, beige, or black, I go for it. I usually fall back on this after trying on at least 14 pair of slacks. I have reached the age of wanting to enter a room quietly. Anything outrageously fashionable and “in” is sure to be “out” very soon, so I prefer to stick to simple and classic—monochromatic. I’m always fighting to stay visible—but I sure don’t want to look like a python.
Essential team member.
I can’t function without my team—people I can count on to do the basics. An old friend who actually listens and cares—great savings on a therapist. My gynecologist who checks inside and tells me I don’t look my age on the outside. A stylist who cuts my hair evenly—a good haircut is essential to a happy life, along with a colorist to highlight who never gives me tiger stripes. I have an honest cleaning person, even though my husband says she takes over and he can never find anything. Who cares? We have too much stuff anyway. If I entertain, I may need a reliable person to help. It’s all good, and it’s my TEAM. Then there’s pedicurist who delivers happy feet and the make-up woman at the department store who gives me free samples for travel. Oh yeah, and my once-a-week acupuncturist who helps my neck move in both directions.
There’s my mate who thinks I still look as slim and young as when we met. He never notices the excess poundage. Lucky me. Then there are the smallest members of my team, my grandchildren—the miracles of life. For them, there are no qualifiers. Get your team in place and stick with the team. I’d love to get to meet the Dali Lama and add him to my team, but that’s not likely to happen.
Read similar stories in I Oprahed, available for purchase on Amazon.com.