Fighting Fair

I'm confident that everyone has taken a shortcut at some point. I'm also fairly confident that every couple fights. It's natural and every couple fights differently. But I believe you should always fight fair and never aim to be hurtful. You're fighting to resolve something, not make things worse. 

Like every couple, Ryan and I fight. Our latest one was on Tuesday, otherwise known as street cleaning day in our neighborhood.

I've been riding my bike into work so that we can make our 1,000 mile goal by November 1st. As I'm writing this, I have 30 miles left, Rye has 27. On Tuesday morning, in an effort to catch up to Ryan, who was 20 miles ahead of me, I rode my bike in to work confirming with him that he'd park the car in the backyard. That way we wouldn't get a ticket or towed. 

Later in the morning, I get a call from my dad saying the car might be in front of the neighbors house and it might have a ticket. I told him I'll call Ryan and see what happened.

Now, I knew that in the morning one side of the street is cleaned (the neighbors' side) and then in the afternoon the other side (our side) is cleaned. Ryan, having only lived there for two years now, didn't know. He also failed to see the sign he parked right in front of that said "NO PARKING TUESDAYS 9AM - NOON."

When Ryan finally answered his phone after my fifth call, I laid right into the issue. Five minutes later the call abruptly ended when I curtly told him to "pay attention" then hung up. 

At the end of the day, things like this aren't an issue. We fight to resolve things (although I'm not sure he'll ever pay attention). Once the fight is over, it's done. It becomes part of the filler for the day. At the end of it, we forgive, we move on, and we still love one another, because we fight fair. There's no leftover words of hurt or anger because we didn't throw them in the first place. 

It's not always easy and it doesn't always seem possible, especially when you're passionate about something, but try to fight fair. Don't fight to fight. Fight to finish it. Fight to move on. Fight to forgive. And always. Always fight for one another. 

Even when it's hardest, fight for your love. Because at the end of the day, it's just you two. Two of you, waiting for another morning.