For the record, I hate relationship advice books. Let me be more specific. I hate men that give relationship advice to women. I have ranted on this topic to many family members, friends and co-workers. My basic premise is that men aren’t that complex. There seems to be the perception that men are some deep mystery that women must seek a secret code to unlock the inner workings of the male mind. I felt as if some men (looking at you Steve Harvey) chose to capitalize on this. I felt that these so-called “men experts” put all the onus on women to make a relationship work. You just don’t see many books geared toward offering men secrets to the female psyche. At least there aren’t any that end up on the NY Times Bestseller List.
Then I went to see the movie, “Think Like A Man” based on the book of the same name by Steve Harvey. It was date night and the Hubby and I did the dinner and movie thing. The movie had been #1 for a few weeks and had generally good reviews. I enjoy romantic comedies so I went into the viewing with an open mind. The movie was great. I thought it was funny and endearing. I thought the premise was well executed and incorporated chapters from the book into a realistic story line.
Here is my main take away from the movie. Women have the power. We give it away thinking that will help us get or keep a man but the opposite is true. A good man will step up his game to be with you. You just have to require it. Yes, it’s not easy and it may hurt. You have to take the chance that he may walk away. But even if he does, what have you lost? It’s a common sense saying that people treat you exactly the way you allow them to.
To my fellow ladies I say, “Stop giving away your power.” When Steve says, “Think like a man” I hear take control of your relationship. And that’s something I think we can all agree on.