Coupled. And Trying New Things

OK, so this pic is misleading. No matter how much I love my BF, I wouldn’t jump out of a plane for him. Even with a gray-haired instructor on my back.

By Sarabeth

But that being said, I’ve recently realized how many new things I’ve tried since calling Matt my boyfriend.

Most people think that once you’re in a serious relationship, your fun and adventurous days are over. Well that, like most other generalizations, isn’t true!

When you love someone, you trust someone. And when you trust someone, you tend to be a little more willing to try weird things that used to make you want to barf. Those could be things that you never once considered (snowboarding), or things that you considered at one point, tried and vowed never to try again (Taquitos from 7-11). It just comes with the relationship territory; not only do you want to love the things your significant other loves, but you also know that if he or she enjoys them, maybe they’re not so bad after all.

Take food for example. About a year ago my boyfriend got me to try sushi for the first time. Being from West Texas there wasn’t a single sushi place in my hometown. Matt, however, has 3 relatives that have all lived in Japan at one time or another, so he kinda looked at me funny when I said I’d never had sushi. So I agreed to try it. I mean, if he loved it so much, it had to be OK, right?  The first few bites were a bit difficult to swallow (literally), but the more I ate the more I loved it. And I have the BF to thank for my new favorite cuisine.

And I’ve been getting Matt try new things as well. Why, just sitting here with him while I’m writing this I found out that he’s never seen any of the Back to The Future movies, aka my FAVORITE movies from when I was a kid. Guess what we’ll be doing this Christmas break?

Now, I’m sure to some of you these don’t sound all that exciting, but that’s not really the point. The point is that good relationships expose you to new things (whether it’s a new movie or jumping out of an airplane…) and push you out of your comfort zone a little bit. You can’t just do everything that YOU want to do in a relationship; you have to share experiences and hobbies, even if your boyfriend or girlfriend is a little hesitant about trying them. If things turn out well, you have something that the both of you can enjoy doing together. If they turn out not-so-well, you two have something to laugh about. (Unless not-so-well means broken bones or a bad case of food poisoning; those things are a bit harder to laugh about.) Either way, you are a closer couple in the end.

If you can break out of your comfort zone for someone it’s a huge sign that you love them. And at the end of the day, if you enjoyed that California Roll or not, isn’t showing some love the most important thing?