RELATIONSHIPS

 

Getting It Right

 

To the surprise of her brothers and sisters, Foluke walked in visibly angry. She entered her room and banged the door after her. Inside the room she sat on her bed and wept profusely. “Why can’t I keep a boyfriend for a long period?” she wondered. She has just broken another relationship with Austin, the third within two years, while most of her friends have been enjoying steady dates of over three years. “What could be wrong with me?” She lamented. Thoughts kept pouring into her mind like water just released from a dam. “Will I ever get married?” If I do, “Will I be able to keep it?” “Do I know what it takes to keep a man?” she queried. Feeling overwhelmed by these thoughts she cried out “God help me, show me what is wrong with my life”. Hearing her loud sobbing, her brother and close confidant Kunle pleaded with her to let him in.

        Foluke opened the door and narrated her ordeal to him. “Is that all? The situation is not out of hand,” replied Kunle. He reminded her of the fact that he and his friends find her amiable and enjoy her company. He further explained to her that life is all about relationships. He said, “Relationships form the core of our existence and can either make or break us”. He encouraged Foluke to learn how to get it right from the very beginning. Kunle gave Foluke a pat on the back and saluted her courage for breaking these relationships. They were broken because Foluke refused to become sexually intimate with her partners. “You are worth being in a relationship with someone who will love you enough to protect you, your purity and be concerned about your feelings” Kunle explained gently to her. He also advised her to discuss values and beliefs extensively with her potential before entering into a relationship with him. He informed her “two people can never walk together except they agree”. “This is the foundation of a good, enduring an satisfying relationship,” Kunle said. Foluke was greatly consoled at the end of this discussion. “I will never go into any relationship again without building