Our entire life is filled with relationships. As our society has evolved, we have given names to each of them. Additionally, we have gone one step ahead and determined which ones are “good” and which ones are “suspect” or “bad”.
Good relationships are the ones that provide meaning and happiness through the interactions. In fact, they are the very reason we get up day in / day out, enable us to put on our working man / woman pants and head out bravely into the world – because we know we can fall back on a number of close and good relationships when times are not that great – these could be parental relationships, sibling, spouse, best friend / s, professional, activity based.. etc. Obviously all of these relationships are on a continuum when you measure them by their closeness or dependence Bad relationships are toxic , sap our energy, take our eye of the ball and mostly force us to question who we are and destroy our self worth – ex-es, professional relationships, competitors, etc.
The relationship that truly is interesting is that of a spouse / partner. The society has put so much pressure on it. “the better half”, “solumate”, “person you can love forever”, “match made in heaven” etc These extraordinary expectations from this relationship has put the institution of marriage under serious siege. Most western countries continue to have a divorce rate north of 50% and consider marriage to be no more than an official document making you eligible for tax savings. The history of marriage has always been to establish the smallest unit of family – initially to facilitate governance of a fairly nomadic species by the kings, conquerors and religious overlords.. but the fact of the matter is marriage establishes the unit that addresses 2 of the most important parts of any human’s life – #1. architects a relationship to eliminate loneliness (if executed correctly), #2. provides you an opportunity to experience the happiness of raising a child.
There has never been any doubt from a data perspective.. that loneliness has pervaded the fabric of our current western society leading to high rates of suicide, rapidly decreasing mental health (leading to potential unthinkable actions) and loss of productivity. Additionally, the last decade has registered the lowest birth rate in our last 1000 years. – Is marriage as an institution really that important?
Change is Life 