Transcription Coexistence and Commitment
Critical Areas of Coexistence
Coexistence is the practical terrain where the life project is executed. It is defined as the shared space in a natural environment (the home) under free agreements.
For it to work, the couple must negotiate and establish clear rules in five critical areas:
Organization of the Home: Roles, cleanliness and order (who washes, who cooks).
Resource Management: How money is managed (joint or separate accounts, spending priorities).
Relationship with Relatives: Boundaries with in-laws and traditions (where Christmas is spent, frequency of visits).
Lifestyle: Shared tastes, type of food, clothing and pace of life.
Personal Space: Respect for individual free time and hobbies outside the couple.
Commitment: Fidelity and Surrender
Commitment is the "freely established formal agreements" that sustain the structure of the relationship in the long term. It is based on three pillars:
Fidelity: it is not limited to sexual exclusivity; it is the integral respect for all the couple's agreements. If they agree "not to go to sleep fighting" and one of them breaks it, it is a lack of fidelity to the pact.
Trust: It is the certainty and security that the other will fulfill the established agreements. Without this, the relationship lives in uncertainty.
Surrender: It is the active willingness to give time, attention, emotional support and sacrifice for the well-being of the other and the relationship. It is the willingness to work for the "we" beyond the "I".
Summary
Cohabitation is the practical terrain where the life project i
coexistence and commitment