Addicted

You see someone addicted to Meth, alcohol or even cigarettes and wonder ... why can't they just put it down and walk away to a healthier lifestyle.  Well I guess the same is about relationships.  Smart people stay in bad relationships because that is the only relationship they know of.  They have never been treated the right way or felt the love of a true love relationship so they accept their circumstances and stay.  It also takes a strong person to walk away.  That strength is not always easy to come by. But they always say that someone who has an addiction also reaches a low point and that is when they seek help to change their circumstances.  Yes sometimes that low point is sitting in a jail cell waiting trial, or maybe it is being diagnosed with lung cancer so the cigarettes just don't seem important anymore.  But when it comes to a long term relationship; what is the low point when the person decides when they have put up with enough crap or violence to now seek a happy life?
Getting your life in order is a hard task to accomplish alone. And as bad as that relationship is, there is a sense of stability from that person always being there even in the worst of times. They also may have the extra income needed to sustain the bills and without their paycheck, credit scores might be ruined and the lifestyle they are accustomed to is gone.  I don't want to think of that person as a victim- but more of someone who doesn't know better...and lives with the person that they are dependant upon someone who treats them like shit. 
I was just looking at article about Nigella Lawson and how her husband attacked her in middle of restaurant.  She is a beautiful, smart woman.  How could she let a man treat her like that?  That is probably all she knows and or she is more looking at his fat wallet and never complained because the bills were paid.
I pray to strength and faith and mostly love.  Because with love...ALL things are possible.