Blitz Me Again!

I appreciate all the positive feedback from my blog last Friday where I opened the floor to be questioned and give my best impartial, yet non-researched advice. This week I had two strangers ask me questions, and one I had to lean on a friend to feed me one. Hopefully by next Friday, we can have all three be blog readers.

Question 1:

Broken said...
I have a question for you. If I was in a relationship and pushed away someone when I knew I loved them, to the point where I hurt them, and it got way out of hand. What steps would you take to rectify it? I messed up a lot, lied and took for granted the best thing I ever had. Please help Irene.

Hi Broken. Great question, one that hits a little bit close to home for me personally, and one that I'm sure just about any experienced person with relationships can identify with.
First off, even if the person you hurt doesn't open their heart for you to come back, and rebuild a relationship, I'm quite confident that they will open their ears and listen to you, accept your apology and even respect your accountability. And who knows maybe they will have an apology of their own for you. If you realized you took the relationship and person for granted, and that when it was good it was the "best thing you ever had" it will probably require a conscious choice to make better decisions in the future, whether that be with the person you are risk of completely losing, or the next person you have in your life.
So steps I would take: 1. Reach out to the person who seems lost. 2. Show accountability and responsibility. 3. Listen to this person's reaction and 4. Hope for the best, yet prepare for the worst. I'm a big proponent for communication and believe this can and maybe will work itself out.

Question 2:

Ryan asks:
Planning a winter vacation for my girlfriend and I. We've been together 6 months, and it's hard to know what is too much for the amount of time we've been together and what is just right. Any suggestions.

Ryan, I'm not a relationship wizard. My longest was 3 years, my shortest was 3 hours. A whole lot of variables enter into this decision, but here's what you should consider. Who is paying for the vacation? If it's all you, then it may not hurt to just plan a good weekend get away for the relationship to see where it's at. Maybe a weekend in a hotel, or a two hour drive away. If you are splitting it, perhaps fly to some place and take in the night life, maybe a concert and experience a new city together.
One of my favorite couple's vacation which was relatively early on, with a guy was renting a cabin for a weekend and just spending time together chilling and cuddling, and having a blast. It's getting close to winter, so doing too much outdoors may make that a challenge. Hope I helped, you kinda stumped me there, because I have to assume where you two are at after 6 months. I know couples that are married in that time.

Question 3:
From my best friend Mike:

Knowing that you follow the economics of sports, and are a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I want to know what your expectation of the effect of the current economic crisis in North America will have on the NHL specifically, but sports in general.

Great question Mikey-boy. First it won't have even a minimal effect on Toronto or Montreal, although the Canadian dollar falling twenty cents is a major kick in the butt. Because the crisis is across North America, and I believe will remedy itself in 6 months to a year, the effect will be short-term. I'd be anxious to see what effect it will have to League revenues which have an effect on Salary Cap, and players earnings. If the Cap shrinks, how big of an accounting mess could that be? I also think it helps Jim Ballsillie in his goal of securing a Southern US franchise to relocate to Ontario, and it could help you in Winnipeg benefit in getting an NHL team. But the dollar could hurt that too.
In other sports, I don't look at a gigantic decline, the NFL still delivers rock solid TV ratings which will actually go up during an economic downturn, as more people will stay in and watch TV. Major League Baseball will not see a major impact this year, if the recession goes 3 years then it may.

Once again if you would like to pose your questions to me, send them to irenedellaveres@yahoo.ca or post them on the comment board. I appreciate all the positive feedback from you.