Why do I only go outside if my partner wants to?

Nasreddin used to fish every morning at the river. Then he married. His wife liked the fire better than the water. So Nasreddin decided he would wait for her to want to fish too, and he would go with her when she did. He waited three years. A neighbor asked why he never fished anymore. "I am not the kind of man who fishes alone," said Nasreddin. "But Hodja," said the neighbor, "you always fished alone, before you married." "Yes," said Nasreddin, "but then I had no one to not-fish with." Somewhere along the way, alone stopped counting as real. If your partner wasn't coming, going outside felt like less of a good idea, so you skipped it. Do that enough mornings and outside quietly becomes a place you used to go, not a place you go. This isn't really about changing your partner's mind. It's about noticing you handed the key to a door only you can walk through.