Communication and Understanding

Why is it that we’re willing to look outside our relationships for answers to the questions that could just as easily be addressed with the person we’re with?     Relationships begin and breakdown for various reasons, but essentially, it boils down to how openly the two individuals involved are willing to communicate with one another. Neither fear nor anger has proven to be a source of the substance needed to bond two lovers together. Respect, honesty and understanding, on the other hand, allow communication to take root and provide the foundation needed for growth. No healthy relationship can sustain for very long without communication. Once you enter a serious relationship, you become two individuals intertwined as one, journeying down a road lined with obstacles as well as treasures. How can you hurdle those obstacles and gain those treasures if you’re unwilling to share your thoughts and feelings with your partner in life? Communication leads to understanding. Understanding leads to trust. Trust sets the tone for love. Love trumps all when the right ingredients are included.

Love and Partnership

As quickly as two people find themselves in a relationship, they find it can end just as fast. That’s because there’s a significant and common misunderstanding of what it means to engage in a serious relationship with another person. Most people want to be with a person as they presently view them without the understanding of how moments in life can alter realities. We’re attracted to their physique, their status, their financial stability and the other clichés, but it’s not always lasting. Life happens. People age. They gain weight, lose jobs and have issues outside of the relationship that affect them forever. What you have to decide before investing serious time with that person is whether or not you can be life partners or if you’re just in it for the moment.

There’s nothing wrong with “passing time” with someone as long as it’s established that it’s more of a mutual sharing of space than a declaration of commitment. It’s only when you have conversations about the future and when you make plans to occupy that time with them, that the moments you share now begin to be about something more than just fun and games. It sets a foundation for trust and security within the confines of the relationship that can only be sustained when the intent is to grow “together” and be “life partners.” Life partners meaning, being there for one another as a team. Much like a seesaw, it takes two. It takes one to lift up the other and both to create a balance. But people have to stop being too selfish to elevate their partner if they themselves hope to rise.

Roles Men and Women Play in Relationships

People are always seeking to establish their position in relationships by trying to “dominate” the other in order to protect themselves from being dominated. In the lion kingdom, the lioness reigns as queen. She’s the fiercest and most revered animal in the jungle. While the rest of the pride sits at home, she hunts. Still though, she bows to the Lion for he is King. His strength and roar is humbling. Their relationship is bred out of respect and cooperation for the betterment of the pride. The point is, men and women are constantly at each other’s throats, fighting each other for self preservation and finding themselves, by themselves. A strong man, one whom allows his queen to be fierce in her own right, can only develop his kingdom if he in turn, is supported by a woman who is capable of allowing her king to provide her with security. Love and support go a lot further than fear and jealousy.