Reading Corner

Links related to the weekly posts.

 

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

In this week’s blog, we said be grateful and don’t take things for granted. Here’s a bumper crop of articles on this topic. Enjoy!

Gratitude is for Lovers “I had one goal when I started graduate school five years ago—to understand why some romantic relationships thrive while others fail. I also had one primary hypothesis—that relationships fail when partners begin to take each other for granted. And I thought: If taking each other for granted is the poison, then gratitude might be the antidote.”

Do You Take It for Granted? “Are you grateful for the life that you have? Or do you take things for granted? Maybe you haven’t thought about it for a while. Did you ever fail to appreciate someone you care about? Was that because you were too busy putting out fires or focusing on other things? Or perhaps you assumed they’d just hang around forever.”

Why and How to Stop Taking So Much In Your Life For Granted “The week before last, my brother and I visited our Uncle up (up from us Southerners a least) in the Midlands as he has been poorly following a cancer diagnosis. He happened to say something that really resonated with me. He is currently experiencing ongoing pain and discomfort due to his illness. He said to us, “never underestimate how good it is to feel normal.” We spoke about this for a while, and he spoke of not taking “normal” for granted.”

The Perils (and Benefits) of Taking Each Other for Granted “Few things are more comforting than having a partner you can take for granted. On the other hand, there are potential—though generally hidden—dangers in being “blessed” with such a person, including risks to the other person, the relationship, and ultimately yourself. So what are the pros and cons of such a secure (seemingly immune) relationship?”

The Importance of Appreciation in a Relationship “Appreciation happens to be one of the 3 A’s in any healthy relationship: * Acceptance, * Appreciation, * Acknowledgement. As a keen observer, a common thing I happen to notice among many couples is appreciation. Or, to be more precise, the lack thereof. And it appears to be an increasingly common problem with couples who have been together for a while.”

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By Posted on Posted in Peace, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating

In this week’s blog, we celebrated the International Day of Peace and gave a number of links to peace organizations. We’re shaking it up here with a variety of different links.

Negative versus Positive Peace A short but insightful way of thinking about peace: “Negative peace refers to the absence of violence. … Positive peace is filled with positive content such as restoration of relationships, the creation of social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive resolution of conflict.”

Imagine (UNICEF: World Version) video “The World version of the iconic song ‘Imagine’, by the legendary John Lennon. Featuring Sonu Nigam, Katy Perry, Priyanka Chopra, will.i.am, and many more.”

Dictionary Definitions Many different dictionary definitions of peace.

The Peace Treaty Thich Nhat Hanh writes about an agreement on how to resolve anger between two people.

In The Better Angels of our Nature, Steven Pinker argued that violence has actually been in decline over long stretches of history. Here’s an article and a TEDx talk by him.

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

In this week’s blog, we wrote about why diversity in your relationship is good. Here are thoughts from some others on this topic.

Embracing Diversity in Relationships “In this post, we will talk about the first two phases of a relationship. Phase one, which is all about unity, similarity, and harmony; and phase two, which is all about fostering and embracing diversity. We’ll do this by commenting on some song lyrics, a poem, and a parable.”

Celebrate The Difference in Couple Relationships “Each person has their own Mary Poppins type bag full of tools to help them live their lives. When you meet that special someone and want to have a full on relationship with them, beware. They will have their own bag too, probably a different set from yours. This is what I call our adaptions to life.”

When Differences Can Make Your Relationship Stronger The author describes losing a backpack, then writes: “What can explain the drastically different reactions that James and I had to this same shared experience? The answer is that we have different goal strategies, or what researchers refer to as “regulatory focus” In other words, even when we have the same goals, we frame those goals in very different ways.”

By Posted on Posted in Peace, Reading, Relationships Tagged with ,

We wrote in this week’s blog on what peace is and how to spread it. We have some great links about personal and world peace this week, starting with a video from Martin Hellman.

Creating true love at home & peace on the planet TEDx “Our marriage became a laboratory where we learned how to resolve seemingly unfathomable differences through holistic thinking and compassion. Working on global issues proved critical to bringing magic back into our marriage, and truly loving personal relationships provide the model for a peaceful, sustainable planet.”

What if the Key to World Peace is Your Personal Relationship to Your Body? “Peace is a way of being, not a way of thinking. It’s an action, not an idea. You can think you want peace all day long, but if you’re waging war against your own impulses, habits and desires, or even worse, against the very essence of who you are, then your actions are violent and you’re living in battle mode. That’s not to say that you should give in to every habit you’ve formed or act on every desire and impulse that arises. Peace is not submission. Peace is acknowledgement, dialogue, and a willingness to be transformed.”

5 Easy Ways You Can Create World Peace “The stream of violent stories coming from your daily news feed is enough to make you want to bury your head under your pillow. Wake me up when it’s over! But why should the noise from some misguided souls get to determine your worldview? The time has come for the rest of us—who are committed to creating a peaceful world—to make some noise. The message of non-violence can be lived and demonstrated through our presence and actions. It’s easy for the mind to get fixated on negative news; but in reality acts of love, kindness and generosity far exceed acts borne of misunderstanding and distrust.”

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We wrote in this week’s blog about how to avoid disturbances in your relationship field. Here are some great articles about the role of commitment in your relationship.

Commitment in healthy relationships “Commitment to the relationship is related to the quality of the relationship. It makes sense that people who commit themselves to a relationship are more likely to find rewards than those who invest sporadically or half-heartedly. This article reviews the various dimensions of commitment in intimate relationships, including commitment as an attraction, commitment as moral obligation, and commitment as constraint. Because commitment has multiple dimensions, it functions differently in different relationships. Strategies for cultivating commitment are presented.”

Commitment: The Path to Relationship Happiness “I recently realized that in more than 30 years as a counselor, therapist, and coach, I have never been able to help anyone who wasn’t committed to what they wanted. Having a strong rescuer/hero complex, for many years I tried for a 100% success rate helping couples save their marriages, individuals find happiness, business owners achieve success, and so on, taking personal responsibility for the outcome. Whenever the desired results didn’t happen, I blamed my skills and methods and sought more training and techniques, and never achieved more than a 50% success rate. I felt relieved when I discovered that other helping professionals did no better. Thinking of all the people I tried to help, the biggest difference between those that succeeded and those that didn’t, appeared to be- Commitment.”

Staying Together – How to Create a Healthy Committed Relationship “When we make a commitment to our partner, our usual expectation is that our relationship will last for life and that our love will see us through the inevitable hard times. Yet, when reality sinks in, we have to acknowledge that while love is one of the components of a relationship’s longevity, it really takes more to make it through the long haul. It takes community and family support (which isn’t as available as it once was in our society) – and it takes skill. Many of us have failed to learn how to negotiate our way through relationship difficulties to build a lasting connection.”

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