Love. Like. Respect.
The Lox, technically Lil' Kim, told us that money, power, and respect were the key to life. I posit that the key to any relationship is love, like and respect (LLR if you will).
Usually, one of these ingredients is missing when a relationship starts to deteriorate.
Love: This is a deep feeling of connectedness along with the desire to see the other person do well. You deeply care about that person based on who they are to you and the rich experiences you've shared.
Like: To like is to genuinely enjoy being around and talking with a person based on (some) shared interests. You have things that you can geek out about and dive into details together. You like the people that you can be geninue and authentic with, without judegement.
Respect: You admire who they are, value their input, and are always considerate of their feelings. Respect in relationships is mostly about consideration before action. Do you take into account the other person before you do or say something?
From my experience, these are the pillars of friendship, partnership, or any other (insert)-ship you might enter into.
If you have a healthy amount of love, like and respect in a relationship, it will thrive. If not, you're in for a bit of turmoil. 🧮