25 Sep Happiness is in positive relationships…because other people matter
by Michelle Gielan for Psychology Today
An important relationship in my life just ended… and I’ll admit it, I didn’t really see it coming. That event has sparked a lot of thinking about relationships in general, and why I value them as much as I do (I am happy I do!). Having healthy, productive relationships with my family and friends is the most important thing to me in life. What I have come to more fully understand recently are the reasons why positive connections with others matter so much to me.
Positive, productive relationships demand the best of us. For a friendship or marriage to allow both people to flourish, each person is an active participant in helping create the other one’s positive future. Whether we are a friend, lover, daughter, or grandparent, each relationship gives us a chance to invest our energy in making another person’s reality better. Each of us needs to fully show up, be present, listen, express ourselves, and care for the other, and that requires time and attention. When it all works out well, and we can see the happiness on the other’s face, that creates, at least for me, the best feeling of satisfaction in the world.
Relationships teach us about ourselves. Sometimes, for good or bad, the person standing in front of us can be a mirror showing us who we really are…
…read more from “Lights, camera…happiness” – HERE