In this quickie episode, Jess and Brandon reflect upon a recent argument and share three conversations to address relationship issues. They share their personal perspectives and delve into the importance of addressing three main points when you're struggling:  1. Why you want to work on the relationship  2. How you're feeling vs how you want to feel  3. What you want & what you're willing to compromise  If you have podcast questions, please submit them here. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music & Stitcher! Rough Transcript: This is a computer-generated rough transcript, so please excuse any typos. This podcast is an informational conversation and is not a substitute for medical, health, or other professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the services of an appropriate professional should you have individual questions or concerns. 3 Conversations To Save A Relationship: Why? How? What? [00:00:00] You're listening to The Sex with Dr. Jess podcast, sex and Relationship Advice you can use tonight. [00:00:16] Brandon Ware: Welcome to the Sex with Dr. Jess podcast. I'm your co-host Brandon Ware, here with my lovely other half, Dr. Jess. [00:00:22] Jess O'Reilly: Well, hello. I have a question for you. How. How are your stress levels right now? I'm [00:00:28] Brandon Ware: feeling pretty good. Not very high. [00:00:30] Jess O'Reilly: Really? Yeah. On a one to 10 today I'm like a three. Okay. What's your baseline? [00:00:36] Brandon Ware: A seven. No, that's what I was gonna say. Uh, the last six months, probably [00:00:42] Jess O'Reilly: like a five. Okay. And lifetime? Like adult lifetime? [00:00:45] Brandon Ware: Adult lifetime, probably. Yeah. Probably like a six to seven. [00:00:49] Jess O'Reilly: Oh man. Yeah. [00:00:51] Brandon Ware: Okay. I didn't realize before how high my baseline was until I started to pay attention to it. And, you know, recognizing some of the feelings that I would feel on a regular basis. [00:01:01] Brandon Ware: The, the, you know, the butterflies in my stomach. I was like, oh, it's I'm hungry, or it's whatever. No, it's like, man, this is [00:01:05] Jess O'Reilly: stress and has your, Stress overall come down over the last few years as you become more aware of that? Uh, [00:01:11] Brandon Ware: yes it has, but I mean, it's obviously spiked at different points because of different things that have happened. [00:01:15] Brandon Ware: Like I remember, you know, the uncertainty when the, the pandemic first started, like, yeah, I was a bit more stressed out. I remember having some pretty intense dreams those first like four or five weeks or six weeks of the pandemic when it started. Um, and then there have been other things that have happened over the last handful of years that have caused pretty significant spike in stress. [00:01:33] Brandon Ware: But today you're three. [00:01:34] Jess O'Reilly: Today I'm a three man. Why are you feeling [00:01:36] Brandon Ware: good? You know, I don't know. I woke up early, got in, um, did a bit of work, and then got in a good workout, which I wasn't expecting. Mm-hmm. And, uh, after a six hour [00:01:46] Jess O'Reilly: time change Last [00:01:47] Brandon Ware: night. After, yeah, after like a really big time change and, uh, just in a general good mood. [00:01:53] Brandon Ware: So I'm just gonna keep rolling with it. Well, I'm [00:01:55] Jess O'Reilly: here to ruin it. No, just kidding. What? Thank you. No, there just seems to be a lot of stress [00:02:00] in the world. Like the headlines. Yeah, the tragedy. And I am finding that I'm receiving more and more messages from people in distress about life, but particularly about relationships. [00:02:11] Jess O'Reilly: And so that's why I asked about stress, because I, I'm curious, like, does the world feel more stressed right