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What Happened To Our Common Ground

Today I married my best friend. How wonderful is this feeling, knowing that I’ve got this special person’s back and I am equally protected.  Come on back to Earth with me now folks, that was just an example of expressed, undying love. I mean it says best friend and ideally it would be great, but is it real? Are you and your spouse/mate truly friends or do you say it is so because it sounds good. If you were friends at one time what changed things? When did you first realize you were asking the question, “What happened to our common ground?”

When a marriage breaks up after twenty plus years, it is tragic to say the least. I ask, what took so long and why did they stay if this was so bad for so long. I must interject that a marriage break up is tragic no matter what amount of time has passed. Yes, I am makings some serious generalizations here, but maybe you know someone who is facing this  right now. Maybe that someone is you.

It takes a lifetime to get to know someone, but there are things that are visible about them the instant you meet them. One has to have strength, open mind, and be willing to act. These are not uncommon attributes, but for fear of being alone we let things go. Then you wake up and realize that you really did not let those things go at all, you simply buried them in a shallow unmarked grave. A grave that is on unstable ground and not dug very deep, and the results surprise you?

We like  knowing what will come next. In our youth surprises are welcomed and exciting. As we age they are viewed in a less favorable fashion and avoided. The illustrious “governator” gave his wife and family a surprise a few weeks ago. To say the least it was poorly planned and not well received.

The ability to see that “common ground” becomes harder and harder as our vision starts to deteriorate. How can we get there if one of our main vehicles breaks down? Now you cannot see this imaginary place, and you certainly cannot get there without knowing the direction you should be traveling in. Who knows it may not even be there any longer. What if it is simply unrecognizable, because you have not bothered to care for it.

“Common ground” should be treated as a garden. You have to tend to the garden, it requires care and attention. You have to visit, water, fertilize, and weed that garden if you want the good things in it to grow.