Relationship Wear and Tear

Relationships are like cars in so many ways. Let me explain. Think of a car’s engine. Run well and regularly serviced it performs year in, year out for hundreds of thousands of miles. All it needs is a little TLC every now and then, some careful driving and wallah, a more faithful serving machine you will not get. On the other hand, you run that donk into the ground by never changing the oil and trashing your beast and you’re on ‘Broken Road.’ Aren’t relationships just like that? Between both of those extremes, I mean.

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In maintenance terms the “Bathtub Curve” shows how a machine like the internal combustion engine will normally survive quite well through many years if it’s run-in goes smoothly -- like relationships, the initial few months and years are crucial. Hang in there! Whoa, what a ride... get through ‘infant mortality’ and you’re on a much smoother road. At the other end of the Curve we have relationship (or engine) death due to wear and tear. This is where things are plain worn out! Worn pistons, piston rings, leaky valve seats, and sloppy big-end and camshaft bearings... tiredness, resentments, patience-for-change all worn out.

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This is where a good old-fashioned service will fix any relationship, provided it’s been well oiled and greased most the way along:

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- Change the tyres by booking a holiday for just the two of you -- oh, how much better you will “ride”;

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- Diagnose that problem clunk from under the hood: listen!

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- Put some spark back into things with a new battery: a charged romantic meal and intimate night by the fire;

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- Add a few extra cabin-safety airbags and top up that insurance policy by having more deep and meaningful’s and even a marriage enrichment weekend; and,

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- Plug the leaky radiator and when you get home, install a new one; all to keep your relationship cool and free-flowing.

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When you look at it, cars and relationships have more in common than you might think.

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Copyright © 2008, Steven John Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.