Before we get to the HOW, we must rumble with the WHY.

One of the most common stumbling blocks for my clients, those looking for love AND those who are in relationships, is the ability to truly receive love from others.

Difficulty with receiving, is not limited solely to the women, however, by far, it effects my female clients far more often than my male clients. Of the women I coach, those who are mothers, suffer most. Struggling to receiving love, appreciation and time from others can be a massive roadblock, we must clear, in order to position them in the place to attract the right partner for them AND to give and receive love, like never before in their relationships.

So why is mostly ‘a women’s issue’? And why in the world, are Mum’s the worst receivers?

Because, we are the best givers.

Women in general, are the not socialized nor taught to be very good receivers. In fact, quite the opposite. From a very young age, we begin training, to be nurturers and givers. We push our little mini pram with its dolly down the street proudly, and the praise received for being such good carers, starts young. From as little as 3 years old, we begin to define our self-worth, by how well we care for others. OR, in this case, for dolly. Little girls are often given the role of minder or babysitter, for their siblings, way younger than boys. And, I meet VERY few little boys who are running their very own babysitting empire by age 13… like I was. In fact, I haven’t met or heard about a single one! That is not to say their isn’t a 13 year old boy out there, running his very own version of The Babysitters Club however the rare exception does not negate the fact that even that famous series of books, features girls and is geared towards girls!

Under traditional gender roles, we are encouraged to provide for others, through acts of great service. We cook, clean, chase children to and fro, take leading roles in selecting schools for our children, their hobbies, play dates. I would love to type here that up until the 1950’s-1970’s we were also the sole care takers of the adult men in our lives, however I think saying ‘up till’ is pretending like that expectation is firmly in the past, and, for many, it’s not.

And the ultimate well in which we are expected and applauded for pouring all of our time, energy, spirit and even money into… is parenting.

When I am working with single Mums, who are looking for love, the struggle is realAF. On most days, you are indeed the sole carers for your children with little choice in taking the leading role. Often, the children, become a focal point for all our love. Here is someone who consciously, or unconsciously we have decided, won’t hurt us, abandon us or think we are anything less than Super Woman. Well, at least till their about 15, then it’s anyone’s guess what the teen version of them, will think of us.

Even the love, we should be showing ourselves, gets bumped down the priority list, to meet their needs, wants and desires, first. Some common battle cries I hear… “I do really want to take this course, but I’m saving to take the kids to Disney!” OR “A weekend yoga retreat?!?! I desperately need that BUT I don’t have time or money for that! Now, piano lessons for little Susie, that I HAVE to find the money for!”

Sound vaguely familiar, dearest one?

Now let’s play this careGIVER role out in our adult relationships.

Another very common tale I hear, is of women who call me absolutely mystified when their partner or new beau has legged it. They did EVERYTHING for them! Who was there when their mom died?? You! Who helped them re-write their CV so they could land that dream job?? YOU! Who encouraged, loved, cared for and GAVE to them everything a human could ask for? YOU! So why? WHY DID THEY LEAVE AFTER YOU DID ALL THAT!?!?

Ready for a truth bomb?

Deep breathes. Here it comes. These traditional gender roles, have been messing with hetero normative relationships, and hindering their success, for millennia! Cause guess what? We are raising our men to be providers! The great hunters! So when we do all the providing AND we can’t allow ourselves to receive?!? YIKES! Game over! There is a deep rooted phycology that simply cannot connect in a loving relationship, if one person is doing all the giving and the other person is not being allowed OR challenged to provide.

Sorry, ladies. I have to drop another big and painful truth bomb… to complete this picture.

When we GIVE we feel more in control. When we have to receive, we feel less in control and way more vulnerable. BOOM. Giving can be smoke screen we use, to incubate ourselves from being disappointed and hurt.

NOW LET'S GET TO THE HOW!

Learning how to receive is paramount to participating in a healthy, successful relationship. The steps to do so are simple, however not always so easy to master.

Step 1 – We need to come to believe we are worthy to receive.

Step 2 – We must break the association that our self-worth, (that we will only be enough), to our ability to give. We have to feel confident, that we are still enough, whether we give or not.

Step 3 – We need to become way more discerning about to whom, and why we give.

Step 4 – We have to slowly start to open up to receive. Heck, most of can barely receive a compliment without trying to side step to shoo it away!

Step 5 – We have to allow others to do for us. We have to relinquish the control, that comes with giving, and lean into the courage and vulnerability it takes to receive.

Step 6 – We need to start with us, first. We must start caring for ourselves, and bumping SELF LOVE and SELF CARE, way up the priority list!

If you want to become a better receiver, and therefore position yourself to not just attract but keep the love you deserve, be brave, and take the above steps!

Please do engage deeply with compassion and care for yourself. We are slowly re-educating ourselves, learning a new way to be seen and to be loved. It won’t happen overnight, and some days will be better than others, by far. And that’s okay. Step by step, inch by inch, we open our hearts and minds to being able to truly receive, love.

“Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Ah yes, this time worn rule.

It’s pretty much the oldest rule in the book.

And in general it’s a gem in living a kind, contribution focused life HOWEVER here’s why, it doesn’t always apply to love and your relationship.

So many couples, follow this advice to the point of absolute frustration and detriment to their own well-being and relationship’s happiness.

When we follow the “do unto others as you would have done to yourself’ when it comes to giving and receiving love, we are missing an incredibly vital trick. How I experience, understand and feel love, is often different to someone else. Depending on my unique upbringing, my hard-won journey to maturity, my personality type and my emotional values.

Today, I am offering up a peep hole line of sight into major categories of how, most human beings, understand and confirm love.

TACTILE:

If I am a tactile person, signs of physical affection via touch is EVERYTHING to me. You can say you love me a thousand times, but nothing… NOTHING makes my heart sing, like a tender cuddle. Our act of hand holding, the way you randomly tussle my hair whilst I'm brushing my teeth, cradling my face in your hands before a kiss, is a transference and acknowledgment of love I value deeply. It's this act of touch, that drive home the accompanied statement of I Love you, that seals the deal for me.

ORATORY:

Likewise, if I am an oratory by nature, the caresses and embraces are nice and all, but until you say those three words, until you declare verbally and in great detail why you love me… I feel unsure of your committeemen to our union. Those whispered promises of love, the enthusiastic compliments, the midday random 'love u' text messages...they send me to the moon and back.

ENVIRONMENTAL:

For some of us, environment is where it’s at. When our partners create a thoughtful, safe environment that is trimmed with acts and notices of love, we get the assurances and love we need. This can range from when our partners frame and tenderly hang pictures our shared adventures on the living room wall, to when we walk in from a long day at the office to a warm meal and a smile, that we know our partner did just because they knew we were having a shitty day. Believe it or not, when we go out of our way to cater to our partners likes and needs to ensure they are comfortable in our homes, at parties, on holidays...these acts of staging the surroundings to accommodate and acknowledge them, show that we love them more than any flowers or heartfelt card every could. For the environmentalist, its these moments that our heart swells as the carefully and lovingly curated environment reminds us at every turn, that we are loved.

VISUAL:

Similarly, there are those of us that require visual acts of love.

If we can see it, we can believe it.

The way our partner looks at us, the level of eye contact, the softness of the gaze sends shivers down our spine. Beyond eye contact (cause oh yes, for the visual lovers, there's more!) if it’s written or a visual token of your affections, like those flowers, cards , we will relish in this act of love like no other. Many more typically environmental acts, such as the elaborate Pinterest worthy couples picture display you did in the living room? We almost died, from the mega burst of love that sent us and it works like a charm every time we 'see' it!

Where many of us go wrong, is we expect our partners to register love on our personal terms. We show them love, the way we would know we were loved. And we expect them to show us love, in terms we can understand even when we don’t communicate what that really means.

The first hurtle is assumption. I assume, that if this format is how I know I am best loved, then surely you are the same. Chances are, they’re not.

In Gary Chapmans book, ‘The 5 Languages of Love’ he touches on these cornerstones of how we give and receive love.

Discovering our own language of love and our partners, is the start to casting away the non functional rule book of “Do unto others…”.

In my work with private clients, I always start with ensuring that each individual knows how they identifies and accepts love best. A lot of us don’t know our own truly preferred method of receiving love!

We are bombarded daily, by TV shows, movies, internet Top 10 lists, magazines and good ol’ compare and despair, of friends and family with what love ‘should’ look like, smell like and taste like.

Only you, can answer this for you.

This act of self- discovery, is the first step in establishing what forms of love are most meaningful and authentic to you.

If you have saved every card past lovers have given you, if you have been known to dry out valentines roses… if when thinking back to your earlier stages of your current relationship, the moments that stand out, the moments ‘you knew he/she loved you’ are memories of catching them looking at you with pride, your eyes connecting in silence while a firework finale was going off in your heart… you might just be a visual lover.

Of course, starting by taking a look at how we show love, is always a fierce indicator for how we want to receive it. If you find yourself being the one who bought that digital frame filled with all of your holiday pics with your partner for your office desk, or find yourselfplanning the perfect weekend getaway at the golfing resort that also has a killer spa that your partner will LOVE, you might just be on team environment!

If you’re making the effort to show love to your partner, IN ANY FORMAT, you are already on the winning team HOWEVER if you can shift that to showing love in a way that truly resonates with them, to the format they recognize and appreciate most… BOOM! Most valuable player award goes to….

If you are frustrated, and starting to worry that your partnership is in trouble and are questioning if this person loves you anymore because it sure doesn’t look, sound or feel like it? This work is EPIC!

Once you know what you NEED to feel loved, you can communicate that clearly, instead of just throwing spaghetti at the wall with your requests i.e. “Janet's husband did this, why don’t you ever do that?” Or sighing deeply, during that rom-com in hopes he/she picks up on the clue that they should be doing what the main characters are doing? Which by the way, is setting your partner on a seemingly endless, triathlon without a map AND they’re probably feeling so lost and overwhelmed, they may have even given up on trying to ‘get it right’, cause even when they do what you ask, it still is never enough!

Most importantly, once you are on the up and up with what makes your partners heart tick, and they yours, loving each other becomes a much easier task.

AHHHHH yes, please! let’s get back to those days!

Are you a visual lovah?? Enviromental?? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

The 6 Steps to Being A Better Receiver of LOVE; And why Mums struggle to find and receive love, most.

Before we get to the HOW, we must rumble with the WHY.

So why is mostly ‘a women’s issue’? And why in the world, are Mum’s the worst receivers?

Because, we are the best givers.

And the ultimate well in which we are expected and applauded for pouring all of our time, energy, spirit and even money into… is parenting.

Sound vaguely familiar, dearest one?

Ready for a truth bomb?

Sorry, ladies. I have to drop another big and painful truth bomb… to complete this picture.

NOW LET'S GET TO THE HOW!

Step 1 – We need to come to believe we are worthy to receive.

Step 2 – We must break the association that our self-worth, (that we will only be enough), to our ability to give. We have to feel confident, that we are still enough, whether we give or not.

Step 3 – We need to become way more discerning about to whom, and why we give.

Step 4 – We have to slowly start to open up to receive. Heck, most of can barely receive a compliment without trying to side step to shoo it away!

Step 5 – We have to allow others to do for us. We have to relinquish the control, that comes with giving, and lean into the courage and vulnerability it takes to receive.

Step 6 – We need to start with us, first. We must start caring for ourselves, and bumping SELF LOVE and SELF CARE, way up the priority list!

STOP STOP STOP doing unto others as you would have done unto you!