I want to be kinder to my partner… especially when I’m angry and upset and we’re in a rough fighting setting… I want to be able to listen to how I speak and listen…. so that I can do it with kindness and love…

I want to be able to pause and ask myself more frequently during fights.. Before I react, before I say something sharp or defensive, I want to check in with that question…. But I let my thoughts take over… I want to fix this… If I can just pause and think carefully without anger… I can choose to be gentle. I can still choose words that open a door, not close one.

To understand that we both mess up sometimes, and what matters most is how we come back from it. My partner mentions this a lot… that I don’t want kindness to be conditional.. I want it to be who I am, even when it’s hard. Because love without kindness doesn’t feel safe. And I want to be someone who makes the people I love feel safe.