The two seconds that can make or break your relationship

Two seconds, really? Well, technically it may not be the first two seconds but a repeated pattern of these two-second behaviors can cause an irreparable rift between you and your partner. These behaviors can be categorized as the text you didn’t send and the text you did.

Picture this, you’re on the phone with your partner while driving to work or an appointment. You reach your destination and before you end the call you say, ‘I’ll call you right back,” or “I’ll call you at nine,” Something comes up and you can’t make that call. In fact, you get so bogged down that you don’t call until the next day. What’s the first thing you hear when your partner takes your call? Is it, “what happened yesterday?” You apologize and explain how crazy things were and all is forgiven but the same thing happens again the next day, then the next week, and the cycle continues. Even the most understanding and secure person will eventually see this pattern as a sign of disrespect or disinterest.

The easiest way to avoid falling into this trap would be to not set a specific expectation when you know that circumstances might prevent you from meeting it but, if you said it because you had every intention of calling take two seconds to send a text. “Sorry, I’m swamped. I’ll call when I can.” You’d be surprised how well received this simple message…