I just feel like with the expectations women have these days that nothing will ever really satisfy them long term. How do you combat that?
True... it's like you got to be a magician.... always inventing new razzle dazzle tricks to keep her interested, before the next dude jumps in with a novel approach enough to convince her to jump branches. It's exhausting, especially when they have infinite options these days with OLD and social media spamming their inbox.
The prize/complacency conundrum is like how the brain craves novel experiences when life gets routine and stops being interesting, you got to reach for the heartstart AED to jolt the LTR back to life. We're overstimulated in modern society and chained to our devices that many constantly need a dopamine hit to feel "normal".
I'm always amazed today when I meet couples that have been together 10+ years. I wonder how have they survived this long? How have they resisted temptation with the increasingly easy access to side-cheat? How much maintenance? Does the guy have to constantly go into debt or work harder on the job to afford more material possessions for her, buy new cars, new houses, toys, and take them on expensive international vacations? That takes ultra bucks and sounds stressful. Are they both happy?
I realize LTRs have ups and downs. Each person grows individually, that's understandable. It's just our spendthrift culture now is so quickly to throw away relationships when challenged or hit a rough patch... /rant