Submission is a gift in the sense that while a sub is being true to themselves by being submissive they have no obligation whatever to be submissive to everyone who wants to call themselves dominant. If a specific submissive deems a specific Dom/me to be trustworthy and caring enough to offer their surrender and accept that Dom/me's control then that is a very precious gift from that particular sub to that particular dom/me and should be treated as such. It's been My experience that taking your partner for granted in any relationship, scene or vanilla, is a fast and sure way to bring about it's end.

As to the idea that a D/s relationship should be symbiotic I would argue that any healthy relationship between adults will be symbiotic, it's true in the vanilla world as well. Keeping it so, and ensuring that the needs of all parties involved are understood and met is a key reason for the honest and on-going two way communication that most people would agree is essential to making relationships work. It is also why I often tell people that when looking for a partner you can't just worry about what you hope to get, you need to consider what you are able and willing to give in exchange so that everyone involved has a clear idea of into what they are getting. If what one partner wants or needs is more than the other person can give then no matter how good a dom/me or sub they might be overall they are clearly not the right dom/me and sub for each other.