Don`t we all come to this world as guests—constantly striving to find the golden rule of a successful rapport with everybody and everything we come across? From birth to death a person`s success or failure is measured by the kind of relationship he/ she has had with elements of this world: people. Nature and beyond it all, with the spirit behind this "relative world". But striking the right chord in a relationship often proves a hard nut to crack.
The world seems to constantly echo with a disconcerting chorus of voices, the result of frustrated relationships between parents and their children, husbands and wives, friends, siblings, in-laws, employees and colleagues—individuals disillusioned with themselves for not being able to relate successfully to their environs.
The most interesting aspect of this scenario is that, today there happens to be no dearth of methods to arrive at that elusive "success" in the act of relating.
The phenomenal flux of changes in every sphere of our lives since the last century has redefined the role of human relationships. Social revolutions such as the women`s lib, the cult of the individual, and even the human potential movement have repatterned the basic premises of relationships. A good relationship today is not one that just lasts but one that coexists with self-respect, individuality and the need to grow.
For it to thrive successfully, marriage counselors and psychologists, also, stress the need for this kind of "space" within a couple`s relationship. An individual in a marriage shouldn`t be a repository of one`s own needs and desires, in fact both the people involved should be totally committed to their relationship. They must be ready to take responsibility for themselves as well as the relationship.
How to Make Relationships Work:
• Don`t try too hard to convince the other person of your love. Love and trust yourself more. This will relax your love defenses and enable you to give yourself totally to relationship.
• Don`t question the other person`s love all the time.
• Feel the oneness of the universe.Step beyond the `me first` conflicts that mar relationships. This would help you be complete within yourself.
• Don`t use your relationships to fulfill your expectations.
• Know yourself. Analyze the cause of your reactions.
• Acknowledge the other person as an individual. Grow and let grow.
• In a conflicting relationship, check where you went wrong rather than where the other person failed. Listen to each other. Communication strengthens the foundation of a relationship.
• Take the first step in working out a relationship without worrying about who is in the right. Don`t depend on any person and don`t let the other person depend on you.