Jennifer Hoffman – Those who know me will laugh when they read this article because they know that paying for parking is one of my pet peeves. I think that parking should be free and I will go out of my way to look for a free parking spot, rather than paying to park my car somewhere. When I was in Los Angeles with a friend recently, we drove around for fifteen minutes looking for a free parking spot but we eventually had to pay a nominal rate because there were no free spaces available. I had to make the choice between paying for parking ($8 an hour) or driving around looking for something that I was not going to find in Los Angeles, free parking!

We are now faced with these kinds of choices in our lives now, making assessments about what we want to give in exchange for our relationships, and whether the price of staying is one we can afford and want to pay, or  find alternative choices that will bring more joy and fulfillment to our lives.

When we are ready to make profound life changes, we begin to feel the pain of our  difficult and draining relationships. We begin to see where they rob us of our joy, they are not peaceful, they aren’t fulfilling, and we are sending them energy and getting little or nothing in return.  While we may have been paying for parking, or paying a high cost to stay in that relationship, we no longer want to do that. And we have three choices:  stay where we are and continue to pay the energetic and emotional price, talk to our partners and see if they will change, or move on.

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