Love
The basic definition of love is strong affection. However, love as we all know it is more than a feeling of affection. It is the culmination of words and actions that are created out of kindness, compassion, and affection that culminate in love. Therefore, a healthy relationship requires love. It requires kindness, compassion, and affection to thrive. This is the basis of all healthy relationships.
Loyalty
Loyalty is a commitment to another person. Sadly, loyalty is often a missing element in many relationships today. We forget sometimes what it means to be loyal. We need a higher level of stick-to-it-iveness! Loyalty takes our relationships to a much deeper level. What a powerful and secure feeling of knowing that you have a relationship with someone who is supportive and has a strong allegiance to you. Loyalty means being there for each other even when things get tough.
Patience
We all can work on our patience. From traffic to relationships, patience can be tough. People are not perfect and will occasionally make mistakes. Conversely, we will make mistakes as well. Therefore, while we try to have more patience for others, we need their patience as well. So often, relationships break down because people lose patience. We need patience from every day activities to the large scale disagreements that occur from time to time. This includes about all kinds of friendships, marriages, business relationships, etc. Recent research has shown that those marriages that go through major turmoil and then make it through, are very strong after doing so. Patience and persistence wins out.
Giving
Giving to each other in a relationship can elicit a lot of joy for both partners. When we give at any opportunity we have to do so, our partner feels appreciated and loved, while we feel satisfied in making them feel so.
Good Communication
In any good relationship, you will find open and honest communication. Communication is so important because it is the vehicle that allows us to verbalize what is inside us and enables it to connect with another person. Isn’t communication amazing? One person is feeling one thing, and through communication, another person can find that out and feel it too—amazing. And this is a vital goal in good relationships—to communicate, to tell each other what we are thinking and what we are feeling. It enables us to make a connection. Sometimes we are the one speaking and other times we are listening. Either way, the central tenet is communication for the sake of building the relationship and making it stronger. And here’s what’s exciting: If we just communicate, we can get by. But if we communicate skillfully, we can work miracles!
Fun
All good relationships have some element of fun. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean loud, raucous fun, though that is appropriate for some relationships. But even in business relationships there should be some fun. It should be fun to do business with those who you are going to have a long-term business relationship with. Fun brings enjoyment to the relationship and that is important. I think that oftentimes this key element can be easily forgotten or neglected in our family and spousal relationships. The fun things we did initially in a new relationship after a while can be taken for granted or simply fall by the wayside and we stop creating the fun and joy. So remember to consciously craft fun situations and moments, for these are the glue that hold our memories together and make our lives sweet.
Friendliness
Put simply, relationships just work better when we are friendly with others. Being friendly can cushion the bumpy ride we sometimes experience in our relationships. Cheerfulness goes a long way toward building lasting relationships. I mean, nobody wants to be around a grump, do they? The fact is that the friendlier you are the more you are going to have people who want to pursue longer-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with you. So cheer up. Put on a smile. Have kind words to say to others. Treat people with a great deal of friendliness and you will see your relationships improve.
A Common Purpose
One of the basics of healthy relationships is to have a common purpose. Oftentimes, this is a component that is initially overlooked. However, for a long-term, long-lasting relationship it is vital. Think about how many friends you have met through the years while working on a common purpose. Maybe it was someone you met while participating in sports, while working on a political campaign, attending church, at your office, or anything that brought you together to work on a common purpose .You had that strong common bond of purpose that brought you together. It also held you together. Working together, building together, failing and succeeding together, all while pursuing a common purpose, is what relationships are made of. Find people with whom you have common purposes and sow the seeds of great relationships, and then reap the long-lasting benefits.
Trying to make your relationships healthier?