When you’re in a relationship, particularly a long-term one, it’s very easy to loose yourself. It happens gradually and perhaps that’s why you only notice it when it’s almost too late. One day you wake up and you’re not you. You look like yourself, you sound like yourself, you probably even dress like yourself but there’s something missing. It’s like your zing is gone. You no longer pop.
Somewhere along the journey to personal bliss you forgot your most important passenger, yourself. You’ve been sucked into the relationship vortex. One minute you have your own life, your own friends, your own interests and the next you’re a carbon copy of your partner. It’s the Matching Tracksuits Syndrome and it’s a soul killer.
Matching Tracksuit Syndrome (MTS) is a sneaky condition. There are symptoms but they’re easy to rationalize away, in fact you’ll do anything to not see the truth. Because remaining ignorant prolongs the bliss. People afflicted with this disorder get stuck in a spiral of more. It all feels so great that those who suffer from MTS believe more will feel even better. In the long run it doesn’t. Losing yourself is painful. It’s a path fraught with anger, passive-aggressive nonsense and perhaps even the end of the relationship you so value.
It’s not all bad. If you do decide not to treat your MTS you’ll be entitled to long morning walks, with your partner, in your real-life bright matching tracksuits. Great perk, definitely worth a soul or two.