Until we're in a situation, we'll never really know how we'll react.
I have been in this scenario, though.
Sex matters. And people rarely want to admit how much.
But sex isn't a lifetime guarantee.
It fades, as does love.
It's important to speak about it.
It can be a fixable situation.
A relationship without sex may not be the end of the world, but it's definitely a sign that something is off.
Redditor Deviant55 wanted to talk about physical intimacy in relationships, so they asked:
"How important is sex to you in a relationship? Could you be with someone you love even if sex was off the table indefinitely?"
I learned how much sex matters in my last relationship.
Once I wasn't interested, it kind of killed everything.
Forever
GIF by moodmanGiphy"When my wife of 30+ years became too ill for sex to be even remotely interesting for her, I certainly did not end the relationship. I loved her and I took care of her until she died. No other course even occurred to me."
fvillion
Frustration
"When I met my wife we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. This lasted a few years. I was in my mid-twenties when we married. She developed a chronic medical issue. I’ve gone twenty years being sexually frustrated. There are stages and phases to this."
"What I came to realize is that I love my wife. Yes, sex is important in our relationship. But I would rather have her in my life with no sex than have sex without her."
"The thing is, I love her. She can’t help her situation. I can’t help it. One deals with it. Marriage is more than sex. It is building a life and memories, raising a family, and loving each other regardless of the challenges life throws our way. But sex is very important. It helps keep the closeness and the emotional bond. But it isn’t the only thing that does that."
QuietusNoctis
I Love Her
"It is complicated. I am in a near-sexless marriage. The wife needs antidepressants to function. And it kills her libido. So usually it is four to six times a year. My libido rages. And yeah, it sucks. I dream of more sex."
"But I love the chick. She loves me to the moon and back. I’m not willing to sacrifice her love so I can try dating again. Divorce rates these days? And I found a woman who more than tolerates me, she loves me. I’ll stay. And not to be crude but yeah I masturbate. A lot. She doesn’t begrudge me that. Occasionally she even encourages it."
"She went off her meds for a while. And man did we do it. But she was a mess. I need her healthy more than I need a shag. We travel together. We enjoy each other’s company. We actually like each other. I could claim that it is hell, but I choose to see all of the good I am blessed with."
painthawg_goose
Heartless
"Quite important. But I think it depends on where you are in the relationship. I've been married for 10 years. I have kids. If my wife suddenly couldn't have sex with me for some reason -- illness or injury or something -- I'm not divorcing her over it. That's heartless."
"Now, if she just decided we weren't ever having sex again because she didn't feel like it, that'd be different. Or if I was just starting to date someone and they told me they'd never have sex, I probably just wouldn't keep pursuing the relationship. Plenty of people out there who will."
Arkhangelzk
Necessity
"It depends on the circumstances. I LOVE doing it with my man but I love his heart and soul more. If we had to stop having sex for medical reasons or something I’d definitely stay with him and stay faithful. If I was single, I think it’s unlikely I’d start a new relationship knowing it would be sex free."
Fit_Technology8240
Heart and soul is just as necessary and hot and sweaty.
At least a lot of people recognize that.
Percentages
Giphy"Sex life is 10% of a relationship when it’s good and 90% of a relationship when it’s bad."
jakovichontwitch
"The other way I've heard it put is that sex is like the bathroom in your house. It's not the only reason you bought the house, but if it's not working it's a big problem."
molten_dragon
Age Related
"50-year-old here married for 27 years. It’s not important. It was important when we were younger but honestly, if sex wasn’t possible I would still love my wife and really nothing about our day would really change."
Kantforall
"I’ve been reading these comments and wishing that everyone’s age was flared on their post because I sense that there are a lot of under-60-year-olds. I am older than my wife but she is starting menopause and I can see the writing on the wall. Not super thrilled but I love her completely and understand. The real intimacy is in how we still (and will always) want to sleep touching each other and waking up next to each other."
caffeinated-hijinx
Kiss Me
"I honestly considered this before. I absolutely adored this guy. It was like a child relationship; we'd kiss and cuddle and hold hands and things, but he wouldn't have sex with me, nor would he commit properly. Any time we came close to sex, he'd go soft or back off."
"I couldn't understand it, wondered if I could keep doing that. My sex drive was wild. Why kiss and the rest but not sex?"
"Then one day he told me he was in love with me and asked me out properly. I said yes there and then, had a wonderful day with him, but when I went home, I was left questioning if I could possibly live without sex. I decided that yeah, I loved him but it would be tough."
"We had sex the next day. So yes, I think I probably could."
Adventurous_Train_48
Touchy/affectionate...
"It's very important. I'm a very affectionate and physical person and touch/caresses and anything physical is one of my love languages. I couldn't function with someone who is the opposite of me or who's uncomfortable with how I am. I already was in a relationship with someone who wasn't that touchy/affectionate and it created frustration for both of us."
Borboleta77
Don't Look at Me
"I am in a sexless relationship. He has erectile dysfunction and I really don't like sex in general. I'm really uncomfortable naked or even vulnerable. I'm shy around him despite the relationship being 10 years nearly, I'm even shy around my family and friends. Everything about sex makes me feel so embarrassed, and I feel nothing but negative feelings when I used to be sexually active. Not through choice of partner, I just hate that sort of attention."
NucularOrchid
Definitive!
Shake Handshake GIF by OriginalsGiphy"10/10. Sexual incompatibility is a deal breaker!"
oeeiae
Sex is important but not everything.
Until it is everything if it becomes an issue.
Good luck couples. Open and honest communication is key.
Redditor TopDoggo16 wanted to hear about the inventors throughout history who were taken out by their own creations, so they asked:
"What are some examples of an inventor getting killed by their own invention?"
This is why I never played with Legos or got into construction.
If I build a wall, it will fall on me.
Homemade Horror
Helicopter Abandon Thread GIF by Black Rifle Coffee CompanyGiphy"That Indian lad who was flight-testing his own, homemade helicopter. Part of the rotor sliced open his head."
peekedtoosoon
"Damn, I watched the video and it was so unlucky. The tail rotor broke and pinged up into the main rotor which broke at an angle that hit him. I mean any number of things could have gone wrong in a homemade helicopter but it's just crazy how that sequence of events occurred. Could just as easily have pinged in a different way and not killed him."
postvolta
Tangled
"Thomas Midgley Jr., a key contributor to leaded gasoline and the usage of CFC in refrigeration. After contracting Polio, he created a system of pulleys and whatnot to help him get out of bed. He was found dead at age 55 after getting tangled in his device and being strangled by it."
heyoyo10
"Just because it wasn't mentioned here I figure I would. Thomas Midgley Jr. not only almost solely responsible for probably the worst environmental and ozone damage from a single cause. He is solely responsible for the death of 100,000,000 people from CFC and TEL."
theglizzymonster
BOOM!!
"Max Valier tried using alcohol-based fuel for rockets, it blew up in his lab killing him."
LemonsForLimeaid
"To be fair, a lot of people have died trying to make rocket propellants. The stuff does tend to go BOOM, all of a sudden."
Lone_Beagle
"Alcohol is a common fuel for amateur rockets. Also, I believe the Soviets used alcohol as fuel in a couple of their rocket engines."
BDady
"Alcohol fuel was used extensively for the V2, but I don't know if it's the same mix. The Nazis found it had an unusually high rate of 'evaporation.'"
wolfkeeper
Afterglow
"Maria Skłodowska-Curie was one of the discoverers of radioactivity. She discovered Polonium and Radium. As far as I know, researchers did not know/believe that radioactivity might have a negative impact on their bodies and therefore they used little to no protection."
Equivalent_Meal2688
"Oddly enough, it was her work with x-ray imaging that is thought to have done her the most harm."
cramduck
"She used it as a night light. I’m really not joking, it was reported that she would keep some on her bedside table at night."
"As per the Nobel Prize website..."
"Pierre, who liked to say that radium had a million times stronger radioactivity than uranium, often carried a sample in his waistcoat pocket to show his friends. Marie liked to have a little radium salt by her bed that shone in the darkness."
"She lies in a coffin with inch-thick lead, and her remains are expected to be radioactive for at least another 1500 years."
Eviscerate_Bowels224
Cupid Failed
Online Dating Flirting GIF by LIEBESLEBENGiphy"Not killed, but the founder of Match.com, Gary Kremen, lost his girlfriend to a man that she met on Match.com."
OneGuyJeff
Those apps and websites were always going to ruin everything.
NEXT!
homer simpson submarine GIFGiphy"Horace Hunley, who killed himself and a bunch of others aboard a submarine he built over 150 years before the current whack job."
tuckerx78
"Yes. Drowned the entire crew, they dragged it up, drained it out, and shouted, 'NEXT!' Then it sank after detonating an explosive charge on the Housatonic, recovered more than a century later, and is now in a museum."
raflcopter
Off the Cliff
"Not the inventor, but rather the owner of the Segway, Jimi Heselden, accidentally rode off a cliff on a Segway."
KafkasBalaclava
"Jesus, you just brought back memories of cities being filled with segways before e-scooters happened."
TheMantasMan
"I remember before the Segway came out, the news was going crazy about how it would be this revolutionary technology. There was talk of free energy for cities, personal hover cars, they said cities would be rebuilt around the technology, and there would be no more roads, etc. all sorts of crazy sh*t. Then it came out and... well... yeah. Huge disappointment after all the hype."
un-sub
Brazen
"Some ancient Greek dude created a torture device called the Brazen Bull. It’s just a large metal husk shaped like a bull where you put a victim inside and heat the bottom. The burning heat and scalding metal will cause the agonized victim to go to a horn inside the husk in an attempt to breathe. The horn will make it sound like bull noises on the outside. The inventor showed a king his contraption. The king was delighted by it and decided to test it out… on the inventor."
SatisfactionSenior65
4/14/12
"The guy who built the Titanic: Thomas Andrews. Thomas Andrews was an Irish businessman and shipbuilder. As the naval architect in charge of the plans for the ocean liner RMS Titanic, he was traveling on board that vessel during her maiden voyage when the ship hit an iceberg on 14 April 1912. He perished along with more than 1,500 others. His body was never recovered."
SFJetfire
Finishing Touches
Sport Halloween GIF by Columbus Blue JacketsGiphy"The Denver airport is known for a giant statue of a blue demon horse. While the artist was working on finishing touches, part of it came loose and severed an artery in his leg and he bled to death."
JellyNinja_
Well, now I'm glad I don't know how to make anything.
It's a gamble when I cook if I'm gonna die from food poisoning.
