Relationships require updating. If you stay in same patterns over time without reconsidering who you are and what your life is like, your relationships will suffer.
Parent-Child Relationship
This need to update relationships is sometimes unclear, but necessary when it comes to the parent-child relationship. This fact was so clear to me as I entertained my son and his fiance on one end of the weekend and then entertained my parents on the other end of the weekend. Clearly we're all adults living our own lives, and clearly there's room to support each other, but no room to tell each other what to do. Most of all these relationships require dedicated levels of respect, presence, and support as needed. We can't live each other's lives, but we can be there for one another.
Friends and Siblings
One of my greatest regrets in life is not allowing my friendships to change as my life changed. I wanted to hold on to relationships as they were, but clearly, that's impossible as everyone's life changes. I wish I had reconsidered these friendships rather than feel such a sense of loss when life changed. There's still time, however, to renew some of these relationships in new and different ways since these are people I value and enjoy spending time with. There's great overlap with our connections to friends and siblings.
Collegues
As we develop in our professional fields we move from novice to master, and this changes our relationships with our colleagues. At first, we may be looking for mentors amongst our colleagues whereas as masters, we may be seeking ways to mentor or help out newer members of the professional community. Yet, even with years of experiences behind us, we can learn from and be inspired by newer members of the collegial team, and we need to take advantage of that awesome opportunity.
Marriage and Partnerships
Good marriages and partnerships need continual reinvestment and revision. It is essential to make the time to consider the revision together--what do we need from each other, for ourselves, and for the relationship are questions to regularly consider.
This is a good summer to reconsider and update relationships. I'm looking forward to this focus.
Parent-Child Relationship
This need to update relationships is sometimes unclear, but necessary when it comes to the parent-child relationship. This fact was so clear to me as I entertained my son and his fiance on one end of the weekend and then entertained my parents on the other end of the weekend. Clearly we're all adults living our own lives, and clearly there's room to support each other, but no room to tell each other what to do. Most of all these relationships require dedicated levels of respect, presence, and support as needed. We can't live each other's lives, but we can be there for one another.
Friends and Siblings
One of my greatest regrets in life is not allowing my friendships to change as my life changed. I wanted to hold on to relationships as they were, but clearly, that's impossible as everyone's life changes. I wish I had reconsidered these friendships rather than feel such a sense of loss when life changed. There's still time, however, to renew some of these relationships in new and different ways since these are people I value and enjoy spending time with. There's great overlap with our connections to friends and siblings.
Collegues
As we develop in our professional fields we move from novice to master, and this changes our relationships with our colleagues. At first, we may be looking for mentors amongst our colleagues whereas as masters, we may be seeking ways to mentor or help out newer members of the professional community. Yet, even with years of experiences behind us, we can learn from and be inspired by newer members of the collegial team, and we need to take advantage of that awesome opportunity.
Marriage and Partnerships
Good marriages and partnerships need continual reinvestment and revision. It is essential to make the time to consider the revision together--what do we need from each other, for ourselves, and for the relationship are questions to regularly consider.
This is a good summer to reconsider and update relationships. I'm looking forward to this focus.