Submissive Love

Becoming what someone else needs me to be never ends. I went home that day and had more opportunities to shape myself around other people's interests: as husband, partner, father, homework tutor, friend, disciplinarian, sports coach, guide, flirtatious lover, animal trainer, maid, and repairman--in short, what different individuals needed me to be. I never stop being who I am, but what that looks like at any given moment depends both on who is in front of me and what that person needs. Submissive love does not come in a one-size-fits-all package.

--William P. Smith, Loving Well (Even If You Haven't Been) (Greensboro, NC: New Growth, 2012), 189.