I am not going to lobby Congress.

I am not going to demand an amendment to the Constitution.

But, I am starting a campaign here and now for the "Truth in Relationships Act," whereby everyone who ever talks about relationships must include this warning:

"THIS RELATIONSHIP WILL COME WITH CONFLICT!"

I am deadly serious about this.

I've had it with people who say that the way to a happy relationship is to eliminate the conflict.

I've had it with TV ads for dating services that show a deliriously happy couple scientifically matched to make sure they are so compatible that they seemingly will always have that happy smile pasted across their faces (when those faces aren't obscured by a passionate lip-lock).

I am a relationship counselor who has watched couple after couple come through my door disappointed, disillusioned, and discouraged.  They think their relationship is at an end because -- oh my god! -- they have conflict.  

Had these dating services been required  to  operate under my "Truth in Relationships" Act,  we would hear a voice  in the commercial, warning viewers that "loving relationships always involve differences and differences have been known to produce certain side effects that may include tension, power struggles, defensiveness, mutual blame . THE SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS IN A RELATIONSHIP IS THE SYNERGY BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.  LEARNING HOW TO DEEPEN AND EXPAND YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO INCORPORATE THE DIFFERENCES IS CRUCIAL TO ACHIEVING LONG TERM SUCCESS!"