Nurturing Relationships With Others

If you’re like me you stay pretty busy. Maybe not deliberately, but there always seem to be a lot of things on your plate. When that happens some things can get pushed to the side simply because of a time crunch. If we’re not careful, what can get pushed away are relationships with other people.

Connections can be tricky things – we usually like and want them, but once we have them we realize that time and energy are required to keep them going. So sometimes it’s easier to back out of that lunch date, not answer the call from a friend or find an excuse to miss the get together.

We think our lives will be easier and less complicated without all the baggage and (let’s be honest here) WORK that comes with our associations. So when things get hectic it’s very tempting to push relationships into the “unimportant” column and go our merry way.

The problem is that most of us are built to need those bonds and we don’t function as well without them in our lives. Yes, dealing with other people can be complicated, take effort and time and sometimes be frustrating. But research shows that relationships can have the following benefits:

Fewer health problems
Greater longevity
More happiness
Lower levels of stress

The fact is that most of us NEED good connections with others – we’re wired that way. So if this is a stressful area for you, maybe a better approach would be to evaluate the relationships you do have. Then start moving out of the negative ones and put more time into the positive, helpful ones.

Positive Psychology has a saying I love, “There are no happy hermits”. Wise words. Start focus on those strong, supportive relationships and give them the energy they deserve. You’ll be glad you did.