We have relationships in our lives, romantically and otherwise. These are people that hopefully are supporting us, and that we are supporting them. We're also individuals leading our lives, going wherever it is that we're going. Each person, in their individual path of discovery and growth, is going to experience stresses from the external life. Those are actually the things that make having a relationship with someone interesting. The things that are challenges for us and the things that we celebrate and that we win—those are the things we have to talk about with somebody else.

Bringing those into the time that we share with somebody, that's what's going to make the time that we share with somebody actually valuable. We're bringing our own personal growth, and then on their end, they're also bringing those elements. That's what we have to exchange with each other, that's what we have to support with each other. If I'm really struggling with something professionally and the woman that I'm with is willing to listen to me talk about that and make me feel like I'm not alone or that I'm not crazy by some of the things that I'm going through, that helps me a lot.

So, what I'm struggling with in my life individually and the relationships that I have in my life—they should be able to coexist and actually provide for one another. The challenges and the successes that I have in my individual life—those are the gifts for the relationship. And the exchange that I have in the relationship, feeling like I'm not alone and going through the things that I'm going through in my life, those are the gifts that I can then take back over to the individual path that I'm on and succeed even better in doing it.