Celebrity Relationship Woes  

There have been a lot of very public relationship troubles in the news lately.  Think of Sandra Bullock and Jesse James with his infidelity, or Al and Tipper Gore who are separating after forty years of marriage.  I don’t want to contribute to celebrity gossip or use these particular people’s woes as an example here.  Others are diagnosing their troubles in print and I have no desire to add to that. 

It did strike me that the information and images about relationships we receive from the news and media are primarily negative.  I guess that fits with the rest of the news — negative news sells advertising better than positive news.  I do wonder about the impact these images have on our thinking about our relationships.

I know that being exposed to other’s pain and infidelity can intensify the pain of a couple going through a similar situation.  The Gores had a public image as a very happy couple.  Maybe the image was real or just that – public and perhaps politics. 

The main thing I want to do here is offer some hope to counter the negative images we are exposed to.  It is very possible to recover from infidelity or other betrayals and to even use them as a springboard to make a relationship stronger.  With the proper tending, a relationship can remain joyful, dynamic and loving for decades.  Keep that in mind as you deal with the images presented to you by the media.