Reading Corner

This week, we asked how can we use the differences in our relationships to inspire us? Here are some articles that share positive ways of relating to differences.

How to Stay Together When You Are Different From Each Other “The strongest relationships are the ones in which both partners can be themselves. Intending to change the other person or dramatically changing yourself to fit someone else’s ideals dooms couples to failure. When two people have beliefs or habits that differ too much, it creates friction. For example, if one partner is devoutly religious and the other is an all-out atheist, it might be difficult for the couple to find common ground on the way that the universe functions. When a neat-freak has to put up with the habits of a slob, there will be arguments. Opposites may attract, but they don’t always have staying power.”

Unity Quotes & Diversity Sayings To Help Us Stand Together “We can learn a great deal from the unity we create in our relationships that we can translate to many other areas of our lives. As we practice a sense of togetherness, we can start to see how these skills can be to our benefit as well. Here are some inspirational unity quotes that will hopefully encourage you to practice it in your daily life. You will see how these thoughts apply not only to your personal relationships but to all your interactions with others.”

How to Build Relationships across Difference “At a recent retreat I facilitated focused on social change, a diverse group of people gathered, from company and foundation executives to grassroots activists and public housing residents. Their goal? To confront their own biases, form relationships across differences, and start to rebuild trust in their community. In our politically polarized society, the authentic conversations they had about race, religious differences, and our country’s often painful history were rare, courageous, and transformative.”

This week, we wrote about how to greet the differences in your relationships as blessings. Here are some authors writing about different aspects of this way of approaching people.

The Blessing of Differences in Relationships “Even with such depth of love in their relationship, Isaiah and John-Nuri have big differences. They have used these differences to fuel their relationship, to bring about more depth, and to find the common place of passion in their work together. People sometimes use their differences as an excuse for their lack of closeness. And yet these differences can be a great blessing, and almost force a couple to go to a deeper place where the differences do not exist.”

Multicultural Relationship Advice: Embrace & Celebrate Your Differences! ” If your core values and interests are aligned, if you have respect for one another, and if you demonstrate kindness and compassion toward one another every day, you can create a beautiful life together despite differences. Think of virtually stitching together a colorful patchwork quilt that will represent your multicultural and multinational ideas, experiences and memories.”

Celebrate Your Differences “By seeing your differences as strengths in the relationship and utilizing them to their full potentials, you create synergy within your marriage. When each of you acts with the other in mind by contributing in unique ways, you are improving the overall functioning of the marriage. This makes both of you happier and ensures an effective method for maintaining a successful relationship in the future.”