Category Archives: Responsibility

The Lessons and Liberation in Marriage

Posted on June 7, 2023 by John

“In our society, of course, there is no need to become an adult. One may remain—one is exhorted daily to remain—a child forever. “Marriage is pictured as a form of imprisonment, oppression, boredom, and chafing hindrance. Not all these accusations … Continue reading →

Posted in "Marriage Isn't For You", Character, Commitment, Conscious Love, Critical Thinking, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Choice, Love is a Commitment, Love is a Decision, Love Is a Verb, Love is an Act of Will, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Michael Novak, Personal Growth, Perspective, Real Love, Responsibility, Self-Awareness, Self-Extension, The Examined Life, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to Know If You Are REALLY Ready For a Real Relationship

Posted on April 10, 2014 by John

How do you know if you are (or your partner is) really ready for a REAL relationship. Condition 1: You have strong feelings or a strong sense of attraction for another. You are infatuated with him or her. You are … Continue reading →

Posted in Character, Commitment, Conscious Love, Critical Thinking, Martin Luther King Jr., Mature Love, Personal Growth, Perspective, Reactive, Real Love, Responsibility, Self-Awareness, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Only Proactive People Can Genuinely Love Others, Reactive People Can’t (updated)

Posted on January 17, 2013 by John

(The following is abridged and adapted and modified from Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change”) Between stimulus and response, human beings have the freedom to choose—but only *if* we develop and … Continue reading →

Posted in "Man's Search for Meaning", "Siddhartha", Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Critical Thinking, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Hermann Hesse, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Choice, Love is a Decision, Love is Not a Feeling, Luke 6:32-35, M. Scott Peck, Mature Love, Mental Health, Perspective, Proactivity, Reactive, Real Love, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Examined Life, The Road Less Traveled, Truth, Viktor Frankl, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Are You *Ready* for a Relationship?

Posted on June 2, 2012 by John

Good relationships don’t happen by “accident.” They’re not just based on chemical attraction, projection, and mutual intoxication that just happens to last for years and years. Good relationships require something more: they require fundamentally good and decent people. When two … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Cullen Hightower, Dependency, Differentiation, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Responsibility, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

It Changes EVERYTHING! (part 2)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by John

I was reading through another blog this morning, and as I read through one of her posts I came across the following paragraph and I thought it to be very wise and well-stated. And then I just started writing my … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscious Love, Courage, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Choice, Love is a Commitment, Love is a Decision, Love is an Act of Will, Love is Not a Feeling, M. Scott Peck, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Responsibility, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Road Less Traveled, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Happy Birthday: Intimacy & the Birth of One’s (Deepest) Self

Posted on January 9, 2012 by John

This is what intimacy is all about, in my opinion: it’s about having some real depth to oneself, continuing to develop your own depths, yet finding another who is also similarly and compatibly deep, and sharing your depth and exploring … Continue reading →

Posted in "The God Who Loves You", C.S. Lewis, Carl Dennis, Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Death, Emotional Maturity, Immature Love, Intimacy, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Commitment, Love is a Decision, Love is an Act of Will, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Responsibility, Rilke, Sarah Ruhl, Self-Extension, Spiritual Growth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On Truth, Personal Responsibility, Love, and the Face of God: Life Lessons from the Film “Dead Man Walking”

Posted on December 26, 2011 by John

Please see my most recent post over at another of my blogs. . . . http://fullcatastropheliving.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/on-truth-personal-responsibility-love-and-the-face-of-god-lessons-from-the-film-dead-man-walking/ It’s a continuation of my post below from Christmas Eve and has everything to do with rebirth and real Love.

Posted in Conscience, Emotional Maturity, Love, Real Love, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, Uncategorized, Waking Up | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Marriages and Long-Term Relationships Succeed or Fail

Posted on November 28, 2011 by John

The short answer is: it all comes down to the level of character development of the two people in the relationship and the reason why they entered into the relationship. Deeply decent people have it within themselves to make a … Continue reading →

Posted in "The Art of Loving", Conscience, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Responsibility, Schnarch, Spiritual Growth, The Road Less Traveled, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Representative & As Good As It Gets

Posted on November 21, 2011 by John

Most people enter into relationships as a more or less untenable or false version of themselves—the curb appeal version of themselves; what Chris Rock calls the “representative” (see 2:10-2:40 of the following clip — [caution: strong language!])— Relationships—easy to get into, … Continue reading →

Posted in "As Good As It Gets", Chris Rock, Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Dependency, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Gratitude, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love, Love is a Commitment, Love is a Decision, Love is an Act of Will, Love is Not a Feeling, M. Scott Peck, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, The Dalai Lama, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Self-Revelation versus Self-Presentation & Giving versus Getting: A Few More Thoughts on Real Love & Intimacy

Posted on November 18, 2011 by John

Intimacy For most people intimacy equates with self-presentation, a process much different from self-revelation.  Self-revelation occurs with minimal to no spin and or editing.  Self-presentation, on the other hand, relies heavily on spin and editing and manipulating and managing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthony Robbins, Conscious Love, Courage, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Gratitude, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Joseph Campbell, Ken Wilber, Love, Love is a Choice, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Real Love, Responsibility, Self-Extension, Spiritual Growth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments