Oh, the infamous love game. We’ve all been there. Texting only after three days, ignoring messages to appear busy, and the list goes on and on. Lately, I’ve been paying it a lot of thought. Do we have to play the game? Why do we do that? Does any side enjoy the game? I, for one, completely despise it. Why do we have to play these games? Follow a protocol to make sure a guy sticks around? Why do we have to smile at appropriate times, make “cute” little mistakes, touch our hair a certain way, insert a “cute” laugh, etc.? Why can’t we just be honest and open?

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In quite a few of my relationships in the past, I followed the rules of the game. Ever since high-school, I did everything by the book. I smiled when I was supposed to, ignored when I was supposed to, inserted jokes when I was supposed to. And for a while, I thought it worked. Yes, I had relationships, but looking back, they weren’t the greatest. My perspective changed when I entered my current relationship. While the beginning has been tough, this relationship is drastically different than all my previous ones.

Let me fill you in. Not too long ago, I started dating a close friend of mine. When I mentioned this relationship was different, that isn’t what I referred to, as I dated a close friend of mine back in high-school as well. What was different about this relationship was that everything developed very naturally. We didn’t play any games with each other; we were front and honest about our feelings and where we stand. It was so refreshing, so different than everything I had known before. I believe it’s a contributing factor to the strength of our relationship, as I’ve never had more faith in a relationship than I do with this one. Sometimes we have to let it all go. Let our natural predilections loose, stop playing games, and just being ourselves.