Relationships are important to me because they help complete who I am. Relationships are bonds that depend and become valuable and more stable over time. As I remember over the years, I have made many friends, not all of them were lasting friendships, but the bonds that are most memorable are the relationships that still continue.
There are several people that I have positive relationships with, and that partnership/relationships that I hold dear.
My first partnership is with my husband, three daughters, three sisters and one brother. I also have a special bond with two play sisters. As I list my relatives, I realize that those bonds are for life. But as I grow older and I am able to share information, joys and sorrows, I have come to understand and grow even closer to my sisters. Family is there no matter what. They are their to comfort you and support you in your endeavors. The two play sisters, could have been blood because they are their for every problem, success, and they don't pass judgement, they just lend a listening ear. Relationships don't always bring joy, sometimes sorrow comes, but a true friend will be their no matter what the problem or situation.
Relationships have to be worked at, if you want them to work for you. I realize that I'm not always right nor always wrong, but these relationships that I've formed are with people who understand that it is o.k. to be different.
During the years past, trouble has tested my relationships with my friends, and we have come through those storms. I've learned that sometimes it's best to just listen and lend a listening ear. Then their are times when I have to work the relationship in order for it to work for me. Over time, I realize that love is an action word, as well as commitment. Some characteristics are love, empathy, stability, perseverence, and a willing personality are all characteristics that I see within the group of people I've identified as relationships. The only partnership that I have is with my husband because that is an oath that I took before God and family. It was a partnership that I did not enter into lightly. That is why I consider my marriage a partnership and it is what makes it special and set apart from the others.
The relationships and partnership that I'm discussing has had positive impact on my career choice as well as my desire to continue my education in the early childhood field. This has a great impact on me as a person and as a professional, because they value my opinion and outlook as a professional. We all realize that I don't know everything, but as a learner practitioner, I'm willing to seek out the knowledge that I need in order to make informed decisions within my area of professionalism. I was raised in a family network that supported family as the most important thing in one life, and I still believe that to be true.
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteSince Facebook, I have reconnected with many old friends and found that the relationships that we formed over twenty years ago are easily picked right back up today. Last night I had dinner with an old high school and college friend. The two of us sat at a restaurant in our old college town, for four hours just talking about what has been happening in our lives the last twenty years. Neither of us wanted to leave because it felt like we had never lost touch. For me, the relationship I had with her years ago was still there even without us talking for so long. I had wondered where she was and she had done the same with me.
I really enjoyed reading about your relationships, especially your partnership with your husband. Often times people thing that 'love' is just natural and should never require work or giving. When we make a commitment to share our life with another, to form that partnership before God and our families, we are making a promise to work at it without fail and without giving up.
Great post. Thank you for sharing.
Rhonda
Hi Theresa,
ReplyDeleteThe point you made regarding the fact that love is an action word is so true! I don’t think I have ever heard it put that way before. I think that many people get caught up in the vision that love should be like something out of a fairy tale or movie. People sometimes perceive it as just a state of being, something that just naturally happens when people connect. However, love takes work and effort, just as you described. It certainly is a commitment and it takes a stronger person to stay in love than it does to fall out of love. Thanks for the great insight!