The School of Life: Stay or Leave: How to remain in, or end, your relationship

Should you stay or leave?

Whether we should stay in or leave a relationship is one of the most consequential and painful decisions we are ever likely to confront.

What makes the issue so hard is that there are no fixed rules for judgment. How can we tell whether a relationship is “good enough” or just not the right fit? How do we draw the line between longing and naivety? Is sex vital or can a relationship survive without it? Does someone “better” actually exist? How much should the feelings of children be considered (and what might they be in the long term)? Could one’s partner change, perhaps with therapy, or should one assume that who they are now is who they will always be?

All these questions typically haunt us as we weigh whether to stay or go. With no ax to grind, or ideology to promote, this book takes the reader (gently) through their options and opens their mind to perspectives they might not have considered. The goal is to help clarify what the reader wants—truly wants—deep down, so that the answer that emerges will be properly attuned to their unique circumstances and often very private aspirations. Here is a tool that carries the promise of the future we deserve.

This book aims to take the reader towards a time, perhaps presently hard to imagine, when the choice of whether to stay or go will no longer feel so agonizing. This book helps us understand ourselves deeply, helps us consider our options, minimize our regrets—and find the way ahead.