My Girlfriend Is Better Than Me and I'm OK With That

If you're reading this, you probably know that I try to be an open and honest guy.
TMI in many cases but it's how I roll.

I've had a topsy turvy battle with love so far in my life.
I've gone all in with people when I wasn't ready, when they weren't ready or when the timing wasn't right.

No one has to explain to me why they're skeptical when I find myself in a new relationship.
I get it.

I've learned many lessons. I've put my hand on the same hot burner several times thinking that the temperature and / or the pain would be different.

With anything, so far, I've found that experience is the best teacher.
Nothing has a simple answer when it comes to life goals, career goals, love goals, etc..

Experience is the best teacher until you meet the best teacher.
Many of you have been lucky enough to meet Paula.
I say 'lucky enough' because it's how I feel whenever I have the privilege of being in her company.
Whenever I get the opportunity to eat a meal across the table from her.
Whenever I have the honor to walk by her side in public.
Whenever I'm blessed with the beauty of her story as she tells it from her heart.

I wasn't looking for a teacher. I thought I knew it all.
I thought I knew what I wanted.
I thought it was a person whose essence and being and experience would be equal or somehow maybe lesser than my experience. I was almost arrogant about knowing how relationships should go even never having had a successful one. (No marriages, no kids, etc...)
Despite my failures, the 'right girl' will come along and I'll manage to somehow know her immediately based in my own life experience.  COME ON, DJB.

Then, my teacher arrived.

Man, she's a beauty. The killer thing about her is that she has so many facets of beauty that I forget to tell her how good she actually looks. The girl is stunning. But what makes her untouchable and leaps and bounds better than me is her mind. Her mind is brilliant and her actions are selfless.

Paula has been through so much.
Instead of blaming the world or pouting or pointing the finger or giving up, she turns her experiences inside out through pursuing social work, teaching yoga, teaching fitness and now, through blogging.

Before she started blogging, my mind and my heart had opened up 100 times wider than I thought possible due to the level of thoughtful, articulate patience that she's put into telling me her story.
It's not all easy to hear. It's definitely not simple to understand. And THAT'S why it's important to listen.

In her new blog Flirting With Crazy, Paula shares her experiences to engage people who have been through the same struggles. She wants to be an ally to people who struggle with painful vulnerabilities. She wants to help people tell their stories so that they can feel empowered and feel rightfully a part of this cutthroat world. She wants people to know that there are people who understand and more importantly there are people who are willing to try to understand.

In 7 months, I've learned more from my teacher than I've learned in the past 10 relationships.
That isn't a dig at those relationships, it's a tribute to this one. I'm dumbfounded by how much I thought I knew that I absolutely didn't. For starters, I never thought I'd want a partner who was hands down better than me. Now that I have one, I don't want anything else. I don't even need anything else.

#djblove