Everyone knows that contracts can affect you negatively when you sign them but neglect to read the fine print. The fine print contains the crux of what it is all about! It is failure to read the fine print that gets you into trouble.
So, let’s use relationships as an example of a contract between two people.
The beginning of the contract is simple enough, and because you’re excited, with stars in your eyes, you don’t bother reading the print that generally requires a magnifying glass. You are in love, and the person who has “stolen” your heart knows this, and if they’re nice, they will treasure it and handle it with care, but what if they aren’t?
In our pursuit of happiness, we are so quick to brush over things that are meant to serve as “red flags.” We love the idea of being in love because, let’s be honest, it sucks when it feels as if you’re the only one of either your family or friends that doesn’t have someone special in their life. This isn’t about compromising how the toilet paper should be placed because those are trivial things that anyone is willing to overlook. Think of the beginning of the contract and understand that all of them look exciting. After all, it is offering something that we want and or need!
How often, though, do we study the fine print? In other words, how closely do we look at the person’s ways and manners or their values to ensure it doesn’t clash with ours? If, for instance, they are rude or dismissive to waitrons at a restaurant, how seriously do we take in that type of behaviour and make them understand it’s not acceptable?
Any values or rudeness displayed early on in a relationship will generally worsen as time goes by. If they don’t help around the house, cook, refuse to clean up after themselves, why do we think it will change?
Certain things are not negotiable, and it is up to us to decide what is.
If we fail to do that, we spend our lives unhappy, loving but not liking the person.
Relationships are contracts in which affected parties promise to love us and treat us with respect. When the fine print, which is the tricky part, overrides the better part of a contract, it’s time to renegotiate the terms because you will discover that too often, your partner is “set in their ways,” and the fine print has now become a part of your life.
“Believe someone when they tell you what they are about!”
