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(calming background music begins playing)
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Hey everybody, happy Monday.
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Now today we're gonna
talk about relationships
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and how to have healthy and happy ones.
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But before we get into that,
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I know we have a lot of new people here
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and if you have a question or concern
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or if you're wondering if I
talked about something before,
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just hope into the search bar on YouTube,
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put in my name, Kati Morton,
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and then some key words for your search,
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like relationships, anxiety,
depression, or whatever.
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I have over 1,200 videos, so chances are
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I've talked about it already.
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Okay, now to get into today's topic.
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I've talked a lot about
toxic relationships.
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We've discussed how to deal with it
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when those who are
toxic are in our family,
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we've gone through how to
end an unhealthy friendship,
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and pretty much everything in between.
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I mean, I even dedicated an
entire chapter in my book
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to toxic relationships.
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So I know it's something that
we all have to deal with.
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But what I haven't talked enough about,
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is how to start healthy ones.
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How do we make sure that
we don't get into toxic
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relationships in the first place?
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Are there things we can do to ensure
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we're picking the right people?
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What about our role in relationships?
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What can we do to be a better partner,
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friend, or family member?
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So that's what we're
gonna go through today.
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How to have happy and
healthy relationships.
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The first thing I want
to address, is our past.
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I know we want to change things right now,
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but in order to do that,
we have to recognize
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what a normal relationship
looks like to us.
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Regardless of how good
or bad our childhood was,
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we all come out of it with some habits,
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and what we end up thinking is normal.
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So take some time and consider what your
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parents relationship was like.
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Did they fight a lot? Did they yell a lot?
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Did they never yell, like ever ever?
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Were they loving and
supportive of one another?
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What about how they treated
you and your siblings?
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How would they discipline
you? Communicate to you?
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Next I want you to think
about your past relationships.
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Is there a pattern there? Are
there certain types of people
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that you seek out for friendships
or romantic relationships?
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What about your breakups?
How did those happen?
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What was your role in those breakups?
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Trust me, We all have our own role.
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What about their role?
What role did they play?
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Or do you not have any relationships?
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Can you think about why that is?
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What are you protecting yourself from?
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What would it mean if
someone did actually like you
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and end up getting close?
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I know that's a shit ton of questions,
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but something that we all
need to do is just consider
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what we do and don't do
in relationships already,
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and look for any patterns.
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In all honesty that's a
lot of what I do in therapy
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with my patients. Help
them see patterns, issues,
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and even ways that they're acting out
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of their childhood experience.
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Trust me, we all do this.
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But being aware ends up
really helping when we go
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looking for new and more
healthy relationships,
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and my second tip, slow down!
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Everyone seems to rush
into things these days.
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Feeling the need to share their
relationship status online,
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wait, is that even a thing
anymore? I might be too old.
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But either way, I know that
many of my friends feel
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pressured to find a mate, get
married, have kids because
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that quote unquote "clock is ticking".
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Uck. I'm sick of it.
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No good relationship
was rushed, or forced.
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Friendships, or romantic relationships.
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It takes time to healthily let someone in,
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get to know them well, and
even get to know yourself
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in that relationship, trust
me, sometimes we're both great
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but together it's just a bad recipe,
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and you should have time to
consider how things are going.
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How you feel. What your friends
think about this new person.
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I know some of you might
even hate that I said that,
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but trust me, our friends can
often see things we can't,
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and let's be truthful, if we
don't trust our friends take
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on things, then why are we
friends with them at all?
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Rushing into any kind of
relationship can sometimes be okay,
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when it just magically
works out and you get along
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really well for years and
years to come, but usually
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it leads us to find out
things way too late.
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Like let's say it's a romantic
relationship we're talking
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about and we get married too
quickly. Then we realize that
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they have a gambling
addiction, and we had no idea
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and they have all this debt.
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Or maybe they're into
some kinky sex stuff,
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and you just aren't.
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I don't know, I mean there's
so many facets to each of us
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so make sure you're giving
yourself the time to see
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who they truly are, and allow
them to really see you too.
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Number three, Give each other space.
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This ones important because
codependency is a real thing
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people, and it's so common.
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In order to grow as a person
and continue doing all
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the things we love, we need
to have the space to just
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be ourselves.
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This could be having time
for friendships or romantic
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relationships, no one person
should expect you to spend
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all your time with them.
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Sure they could like being
with you and not have a problem
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spending a lot of time together,
but you should both feel
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free to do things on your own,
make decisions on your own,
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and just be yourself.
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If we don't allow our
new friend, or loved one,
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and ourselves the space
to do what we love,
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we don't grow together,
we smother together
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and just like a fire, if you
smother it, it will go out.
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So make sure you feel
free in any relationship
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to go, and do your own thing.
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This kind of ties into a story
that I told in my book about
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a boyfriend of mine really
really smothering me,
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and I ended up asking him
if he needed or wanted me,
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and he emphatically was like
'I need you', and I knew
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at that point, I had to break up with him,
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and I know that can sound
like really dramatic,
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but it's true. We all should
be wanted, not needed.
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Because we all are whole on our own,
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We have everything we
need inside ourselves.
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Number four, show mutual respect.
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Once we've slowed down and
gotten to know each other well
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and are settled into our
relationship, we should have
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a certain level of
respect for one another.
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You've got a really busy
week and don't think you'll
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have time for dinner?
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I totally get it, thanks for
letting me know ahead of time.
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If I'm upset with our last
conversation, you listen to me
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and you let me explain my
side, and then I listen to you
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and I get your take on it.
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Relationships are a lot of
push and pull, give and take,
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but that all comes with mutual respect.
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I can't tell you how many times
I overhear a couple fighting
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saying terrible things to one
another, shouting at someone
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in public is not respectful
to either of you.
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Neither is calling you names,
or telling the other person
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how terrible you think they are.
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We all have to show
respect for those we are in
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relationships with,
otherwise it can turn toxic.
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Then fifth and finally,
be willing to forgive.
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No one is perfect, and
expecting that from ourselves
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or someone else, that's
not healthy at all.
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We all say things we don't
mean, we're gonna let each other
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down and do things that we
wish we could take back.
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Expecting perfection from
anyone we're in a relationship
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with will only force it
into the toxic realm.
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We all have to be open
to hearing them out,
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listening while they
explain, and sharing our own
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point of view without yelling,
or being disrespectful.
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If we have the other tips
we already talked about,
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they're already happening
in your relationship,
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we should be good to go.
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We should be able to listen,
seek to understand their side
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and feel heard ourselves.
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Then, we should be able to
process through what happened,
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make changes where needed, and move on.
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We all need forgiveness at
some point in our lives,
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and those we have close
relationships with will be
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the first to give it to us,
and to ask for it when needed.
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We will all be in relationships
that don't work out,
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and unfortunately I can't
tell you exactly how to find
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people that'll be healthy
for you, because we're all
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different and that's what
makes it so wonderful!
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But I assure you, keeping
these tips in mind will ensure
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that the relationships you
start have a chance to succeed,
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and if for whatever reason
it doesn't work out,
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know that that's okay too.
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Some relationships just run
their course, or you grow
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apart or you have different goals in life.
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Let's not forget that people
change, but if we do our best
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to check our own baggage,
take our time, give them space
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when they need it, show them
respect and be willing to
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forgive, we are setting
ourselves up for healthy
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and happy relationships.
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I hope you found this helpful,
and if there are tips that
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you would like to share that
have helped you cultivate
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healthy, happy relationships
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(calming piano music begins playing)
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please leave those in
the comments down below,
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and I will see you next time.
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Bye!
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(outro music plays)