Friction in your relationships? No one is perfect so inevitably we will experience friction in our relationships from time to time. The key is to learn to respond the right way.
Here are 5 tips to consider when experiencing friction in your relationships:
1. First and foremost, relationships require work! I think we tend to anticipate work when it comes to succeeding in life, but we understand this less when it comes to succeeding in relationships. We anticipate working in our career or throughout college, but we tend to overlook the responsibility and work that relationships naturally require.
We tend to give up on relationships easier than we give up on other things, but we must remember that our relationships are truly more valuable than the things we may acquire.
2. We must take ownership- there is always more than 1 side to an issue. We have to be mature enough to look at ourselves, admit our wrongs, and commit to change. It’s not always the other person. Trust, respect, and intimacy is gained by admitting faults, and admitting faults is often the first step toward fixing the issues.
Not being able to take ownership will leave the relationship stuck in a rut.
3. Forgiveness is a necessity. No relationship will survive without forgiveness. No one is perfect so there will be hurt feelings from time to time. There will be miscommunications. There will be wrongs committed. Both parties will need forgiveness; we’re only giving what we will need given to us in another situation.
We have to remember that we’re not perfect and our mate has forgiven us for many things, so we must be willing and able to forgive them as well.
No relationship will survive without forgiveness.
4. Annoyances are to be expected. I don’t care how much you love a person, they will get on your nerves sometimes! Ladies: Your man will work your nerves just as we will annoy them as well. It’s life. Our kids get on our nerves and we love them with all of our heart.
Don’t think the world is crashing down because he’s getting on your nerves. Who hasn’t annoyed you at one point or another?
Just expect annoyances and learn how to deal with them effectively and move on.
5. Communication is critical! This is huge. The relationship will not survive, grow, and thrive without communication. Communication can be hard sometimes because we all have different personalities & communication styles. We express ourselves differently and we have different viewpoints.
A few communication key points: Be respectful, really listen, and think through the impact of our words- think before speaking.
We have to be wise with our words, and we must give attention to how our mate typically communicates. We have to pay attention to each other so we can learn how to better relate to each other. It’s important to talk about the little things. Often, women have a tendency to hold onto things and then throw them up all at once. This is not fair nor effective.
We may hold on to things because we don’t want to nag or complain, but if something bothers us then we need to speak on it at the right time in the right manner so we can get it out.
As we progress through different stages within our relationships, we will always be learning and growing. As we grow, we will learn to respond to friction in a healthy manner.
