Ah, Amore, isn't it a beautiful thing? I was watching my wife speak to a large audience yesterday, and I couldn't hear a word she said - all I could think about was how cute she was. And, that's the way it often starts, doesn't it? We see someone, think they are cute, go up to them to ask them out, and spill a whole bottle of mustard all over their new, white blouse while uttering some alien sentence that sounded nothing like you hoped it would (or walk through a screen door like I did when I met my wife).

But it begins with an infatuation of sorts. If that infatuation is allowed to foster, a relationship may grow out of it and a true love may develop. Marriage generally results, and from then on it is flat out hard work for the rest of your life. What's so hard? Oh, getting along for many people is a difficult endeavor. Keeping up the infatuation, the romance, and hey, the passion's gotta be there as well. I once heard someone talk about a marriage and say that it's like an airplane in flight, and the intimate passion is what keeps the forward momentum going. The minute the passion dies, the aircraft plummets to the earth.

OK, why all the hub-bub about the mushy stuff? Starting a business is a lot like this pattern: First, we have some idea that we get infatuated with, we flirt with it, then court it, then we launch the dang thing and risk a lot on it and marry it. At first, the honeymoon phase: "Isn't she great?" "He is such a good husband!" Then, reality sets in: "I wish she would quit nagging me." "Men smell, and they smell bad."

But, like any marriage, you and your business need to keep up the romance, rekindle the passion, and some quiet time to look into each others eyes - you need a date night. Take some time each week in your business to think about why you started this whole thing in the first place. Take time to rekindle your passion by looking at an aspect or two of your operation and innovating on its work.

Take time to be creative. I know the pressures of real life - real business - are sometimes staggering, but taking the time to play with your business, to flirt with new and exciting ways of interacting with customers and delivering value, may be just what the mid-life crises ordered.

Ah, Amore ... Take time to keep your passion for your business alive. It takes work, but its worth it.