It’s not about love.
It’s only one word for a relationship to survive…
Respect!
You wouldn’t say friends with someone who didn’t respect you, well I wouldn’t. I’ve had many instances in my 30 short years, where if someone does not respect me, I distance myself from them. It is always good to be surrounded by people that lift and support you. At my tennis club, everyone does this and is so supportive, there is healthy competition but everyone is striving for the same goal, to improve. I tend to associate more with people from my tennis club than ever before, playing tennis at a high level every few days, and improving my game.
People always say love is the main thing to keep people together. I challenge this, as can you love and not respect? Yes.
Love is not enough, most of it is just a word. Talk is cheap and respect comes through actions always. For a successful long relationship, respect between two people is the survival guide as without this it is just a mess. The problem is, that people do not respect themselves, how can they respect others? Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but it needs to be said. I have been in a relationship for over a year and a half now and am engaged, and I am in the mindset of longevity. No relationship is a walk in the park, same with life. If we focus on respecting each other beyond love, then nothing is impossible.
By not controlling the other person and having mindfulness and awareness of our thoughts we can enable ourselves to first be healthier, which will then allow our relationships with others to improve.
My grandparents stayed together till each one passed away, it was so common 50-plus years ago. The generations now cannot live together and of course, there are many factors as to why divorce rates have heightened over the last 30–40 years, but one of these is respect. I will give you an example from my own experience. My family on my Dads side are very cultural (Indian) which I have spoken about before. Good and Bad points to all cultures. One of the key areas, which I look at is how much we respect our elder cousins, Aunties and Uncles. There are things we just wouldn’t say or do in front of others in the family. but in the West, this hierarchy has kind of shifted and the respect has been lost. This probably trickles down into relationships. On the flip side, Indians are also getting divorced so it’s all relative.
We must respect each other more for longevity in a relationship.
Thanks for reading and have a great day 🙂
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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