Reading Corner

Links related to the weekly posts.

 

By Posted on Posted in Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating Tagged with ,

This week, we wrote about how to make sure you keep your relationships alive. Here are some articles that discuss the sacred within relationships.

4 Truths About A Sacred Relationship “A sacred relationship is a relationship in which we are inspired to see the divine in another person, to experience oneness through the union of two. We become ready for this sacred relationship at a very particular time in our lives—a time when we awaken to the sacredness within ourselves. When you come to realize that you’re not just a body—that you are, in fact, the essence of love and truth—a deep desire to know yourself as love, and to experience love in your relationships, comes forth. And so, the desire for a sacred relationship is born”

The Importance of Sacred Space in Your Relationship “We are so often overrun by our lives. The job. The kids. The bills. The chores. The dog. Friends. Parents. Yada Yada Yada. We are working so hard to keep our heads above water and take care of all the things we feel responsible for, that others pull on us for, and the desire just to keep life moving forward. We juggle so much – it is no wonder we can be overwhelmed by the life we created! We feel we have to keep up with all of these responsibilities…. It is time to consider rebalancing…. To make the type of restructured approach that focuses more on the high value relationships we see, we must introduce the concept of sacred space.”

Re-imagining Our Sacred Relationships “Rugged individualism has served America well in some respects. It’s created many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and decades of economic growth. But has individualism gone too far? In fact, the science of wellbeing tells us that positive relationships are central to our ability to thrive and have a good life. Money and material goods don’t satisfy for long; meaningful relationships do. Think about it: how much happiness is available to someone who feels all alone?”

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By Posted on Posted in Reading, Relationship differences, Relationships, Successful Relating Tagged with ,

This week, we wrote about how being on the same side strengthens relationships and makes handling differences easy. Here are some writers on how to manage the differences without descending into conflict.

6 Ways to Manage the Differences in Your Relationship “Mary loves romantic comedies. Her boyfriend Sam likes action movies—the more violent, the better. She’s a vegetarian; he’s a carnivore. ‘I love him, but we seem totally mismatched,’ she says. ‘We can’t agree on a movie or a meal; how can we make important life choices, like where we’ll live or when we’ll start a family?'”

Rebuilding Emotional Safety: How to Accept Differences in a Relationship “Generally, rules and guidelines are designed to provide structure and a working understanding of how to act/behave in any given environment (i.e. rules for sports, traffic laws for drivers, and behavior expectations for employees). The same principle applies to the rules for fair fighting when it comes to couples. Fair fighting rules are purposeful and create an emotionally safe environment for couples when discussing important matters”

Six Healthy Ways to Navigate Disagreements with your Partner “Every person has had a disagreement with someone they love, but that does not mean it is the end of the road or the relationship. People have different opinions, and it is perfectly normal and okay to disagree with the people you love—even your partner. Though disagreements are a common part of life, less common are shared insights about how to navigate conflict in a healthy way. ‘The important thing to remember about having disagreements is that it is you and your partner against the problem, not you versus your partner,'”

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By Posted on Posted in Our Process, Peace, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating Tagged with ,

This week, we wrote about handling interruptions in conversations and how they affect your relationships. Here are some articles that discuss different types of interruptions and how to deal with them.

Understanding the Psychology of Interrupting “Constant interruptions can be difficult to deal with, but understanding a bit more about the psychology of interrupting can help you cope. Recognizing why it happens is a great place to start, but it is also an excellent idea to have a number of strategies prepared to help deal with the chronic interrupter in your life.”

The psychology of interrupting explained “At first glance, the psychology behind interrupting seems simple: A speaker is saying something and is cut off by someone else who goes on to express their own thing, leaving the former embittered. But there’s much more to interruptions than that. To begin, let’s talk about what constitutes an interruption.”

Stanford researcher examines how people perceive interruptions in conversation “Stanford doctoral candidate Katherine Hilton found that people perceive interruptions in conversation differently, and those perceptions differ depending on the listener’s own conversational style as well as gender.”

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This week, we wrote about why trust is so important in all your relationships, and our links agree with that and describe ways to strengthen trust between people.

The Definition of Trust in a Relationship “Before we go any further, it’s really important to address one of the common misconceptions about trust, and the idea that trust is something that is inherently present at the start of a relationship. That’s simply not true. Trust is something that’s built up over time, and it’s unrealistic to expect trust to be present right off the bat! It’s not made out of big statements or gestures, but instead out of the accumulation of many small actions. It’s grown through witnessing someone’s words match their actions again and again over a long period of time.”

11 Reasons Why Trust in a Relationship Is More Important Than Love “Trust in a relationship means you believe that your partner is reliable and has your best interests in their hearts. It means you have faith and confidence in them. And you feel emotionally and physically safe with them, just as they do with you. It means you expect respect, integrity, loyalty, and honesty in your relationship. You expect your partner to keep promises and secrets, and to support you when the tides get rough.”

Why Is Trust Important “Trust is something that two parties can build over time as they interact with each other. When people trust each other, they’re more willing to exchange ideas, share information, and support each other. In this way, it allows all of us to accomplish more than we could if we couldn’t rely on others in our lives.”

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This week, we wrote about how to find peace and harmony in your relationship through mutual solutions. Here are some other perspectives on how to achieve mutuality.

Learning to Make Joint Decisions “Learning to make joint decisions is an important part of any long-term romantic relationship. While decisions start small, with tonight’s supper, they get bigger, through the colour of the bathroom to whether to have children, how to manage childcare, and whether to move abroad to support one partner’s career, for example. Developing a reliable basis for decision-making and discussion will provide a good foundation for a long-lasting relationship.”

Your Decision, My Decision, Our Decision “Anyone who has ever tried to make a decision – small or big – with their partner knows how difficult it is. Why is it so hard? When you are single, your decisions are your own; they only require personal buy-in and typically they have very little impact on other people. (Or at least that’s what you tell yourself!) When you’re in a committed relationship, on the other hand, decisions require buy-in from both parties, and nearly every decision you make has an impact on your partner. ”

The 3 core skills that every person needs for healthy romantic relationships “It’s never too late — or too early — to learn the abilities that make up romantic competence: insight, mutuality and emotional regulation. And when you possess these skills, all of the relationships in your life will benefit, says psychologist and researcher Joanne Davila.”

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