Successful Relationships Reading Corner
This week, we wrote about how it is possible to practice acceptance in your relationships. Here are some articles on differences and how to navigate them and find a place of acceptance.
Rebuilding Emotional Safety: How to Accept Differences in a Relationship “In addition to using soft start-ups and practicing fair fighting, another effective tool to establish a healthy emotional environment and safety within a relationship is accepting your partner for who they are. When stress is high or conflict is prominent, it can be easy to criticize your partner or point out their flaws. However, for long-term relationship success, the practice of acceptance and accepting your partner for all that they are promotes understanding, respect, and relationship success.”
Accepting Other People’s Differences “Respecting both similarities and differences in others opens doors to many opportunities. You’ll learn new things and make better decisions, which in turn will help your career and improve your self-confidence. Others notice our openness, which can lead to new friendships,exciting travel opportunities, or simply makes us more interesting because of our broader worldview. In intimate relationships, differences are often a source of conflict, but they can just as easily be a blessing. Each partner’s unique perspective helps eliminate blind spots for the other one; their distinct skills can compliment weakness of the other. I lean on my wife for advice when I need to be diplomatic; she counts on me to navigate when we travel together.”
Exploring Similarities and Differences in Relationships! “Again, similarities are great, but the truth is we all naturally have differences as well. Having dislikes about random things your spouse does or differences in areas of life that are important to you but not to them does not necessarily mean a relationship is doomed. What it boils down to is a willingness to work toward acceptance and appreciation of these differences. Am I able to truly accept this difference in value, spirituality, life goal, and way of operating, OR, does accepting this difference in my partner extinguish a piece of my soul and dim my own individuality in any way?”