Understanding Relationships

Throughout life we are in a constant relationship. The obvious are family, or personal relationships, but there are many others that are not obviously life enhancing, though bring the fabric of life together. We are in constant interaction with both animate and inanimate objects.



Each of us has a friend/friends who we share part of our life with. Why have we got this person as a friend not somebody else? The answer is quite simple. This person or persons give us something that we need and cherish. They fulfill a need or void within us that otherwise restricts the satisfaction we get out of life. The exact opposite is true because as you are receiving the benefits of this relationship you are also inadvertently satisfying the needs and desires of the other person.

So is a relationship a two way street? Not necessarily. Consider the fridge that is standing in the corner of the kitchen. I hear you say that you cannot have a relationship with an inanimate object. Well consider what benefits the fridge brings to your life. It means you don't have to buy milk everyday, so you don't have to go to the shops everyday, so subconsciously you have a relationship with an inanimate object. The milk is cold as you like it, the vegetables stay fresh etc. Life is good until the fridge breaks down. Then you get to feel angry, frustrated, disappointed. The relationship has broken down

Silly example? Well we can mend the relationship by repairing or replacing the fridge. Same goes for everything else in our life. But each broken relationship affects our mood and outlook and so another relationship we have is affected.

Every part of our lives is built around constantly changing relationships except for the relationship we have with ourselves. And for most of us this relationship is stuck in the past and subsequently we are stuck in the present.