Entering Into a Partnership

These days people often say that traditions are no longer what they used to be. That applies in full to partnerships in life.

Partnership as Love

It used to be that partnership meant only one thing: love. People longed for a partner who was at once their best friend, a confidant, and a pillar of support. Someone you were bound to for life, someone you could get through anything with, someone who always had your back. These days that expression is rarely used. People call their partners "my boyfriend" or, even worse, "my partner for this stage of life." It's no longer about a lifelong bond but about a solution for the time being, defined as such. Back then, partnership was the most important thing in life, and it had a staying power that is hard to find today.

Partnership as a Business Deal

It's not uncommon for a partnership to follow a specific plan. Most of the time it's about money. What the partner has to offer is weighed and measured. People ask themselves: is he the right one, is he good-looking, does he have enough, what else can be gotten out of him? Feelings are forgotten entirely, and the only goal is a comfortable life and prosperity. Whether that kind of life can make a woman happy in the long run, we will rarely find out. Mostly because hardly any woman dares to admit that she sought out and found a partnership like this.

Partnership Against Loneliness

More and more people feel lonely in their lives

Times have changed so much that everyone expects more and more from a partnership, and love is no longer enough. Instead, people judge how much they take from the relationship and what they put into it. This time, though, it's less about material things and much more about time, attention, and trust. People have become increasingly independent and often think they don't need a partner in life at all. Until one day they get lonely, until some of them realize that they're the only ones in their circle who stand alone in life and handle everything on their own. Then a partnership becomes a necessity, and everyone forgets that they have needs too and want something from their partner. People stop thinking about the benefits and settle for togetherness and plenty of compromises. Many people spend their later years in partnerships like this and say that they aren't happy, but content. This kind of partnership is often seen among older people in particular: those who lost their true partner too early in life and who simply long for a good person to share a table and a bed with.