hurt me, hurt me. i was watching mtv's true life: i'm a muay thai boxer last night and this situation occured. one of the guys is an experienced thai boxer and whenever he's prepping for a fight, it puts a strain on his relationship. when he gets into "fight" mode, his attention and devotion to his girlfriend starts to waver because obviously, he has to concentrate on his training. the event that he's training for this time is a hardcore bare knuckles fight in thailand, where he'll be lucky to leave with all his limbs intact -- since american thai boxers generally get their asses kicked by thai nationals.



now, admittedly this girl is of the more princess-y persuasion but she was getting all upset that they weren't spending enough time together. she complains that he barely talks to her as the fight approaches and laments the fact that they've only seen each other "once this week." lady, your boyfriend is trying to prepare for a fight. if he spends too much time with you and doesn't focus on his upcoming battle, he might break an arm, a leg, heck, he might even lose an eye. and then where would your relationship be?



i don't understand where this "in a relationship, the person you are with should be your number one priority at all times" thing gains any credence. actually, in a relationship, the person you're with is almost NEVER your number one priority. think about it. in college (maybe even high school), your number one priority should be your studies. post college? your number one priority should be establishing a career. there is a short period right in-between almost getting married to almost having kids that you are each other's number one priorities. after you have kids, forget it, they are your number one priority.



the key to any successful relationship is to make the other person believe that they're number one, while masking the fact that they are really priority two, five or ten -- depending on the situation. and what is wrong with this? nothing. we should all be our own number one priorities, and within that framework, we can decide how much career, family, girlfriend and friends will be a part of that. matching up priorities is one of the best ways to ensure a healthy relationship -- not that i'm an expert in this particular arena.



anyway, point being, clearly, mr thai boxer loves his girlfriend but is it terrible that he's putting her aside for a few weeks/months so that he can concentrate on keeping his body intact? i don't think so. it's his prerogative to train. it's her prerogative to dump him if she needs a more constant source of attention. win win and less whine whine for everyone. this whole "priority one, always and forever" is outdated and i'm wondering if it was ever dated. i'm actually also wondering if "date" will ever again be a word in my vocabulary.