Reading Corner

Links related to the weekly posts.

 

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In this week’s blog, we wrote about communication and individuality in a relationship. Here are some articles that address this.

How to Improve Communication in Relationships: 7 Essential Skills “We love connecting with other people because it makes us happy. And good communication is the key when it comes to positive social interaction. But what does a healthy conversation look like? How can you avoid overcommunicating? And how can you improve communication in a romantic relationship? Read on for a summary of some important models and theories in the field of communication.”

8 Crucial Ways All Couples Can Improve Their Relationships “If you want to improve your relationship, there are plenty of suggestions from experts that discuss trips, staycations, date night, and getting back to basics. While those things might assist, they usually only have a short-term effect; as soon as the romantic situation ends, the original challenges return. Here are some crucial and fundamental ways you can improve your relationship the moment you stop reading this article:”

RELATIONSHIPS This is written in a rather therapeutic style but has good insights into the core aspects of relationships and communication. “In the optimal case the person who loves, in spite of their identification with the other, allows the other to live their life and does not want to take it over. There is the realization that the other is different from one self, a person in their own right and in a very real way the person who loves stands off, enjoying whatever direction the other is taking, even if it is not what they had expected or preferred the other to do. The recognition and acceptance of the otherness of the person also implies an understanding of them. To love well one must love knowledgably and intelligently.”

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In this week’s blog, we wrote about core values and the deal breakers for a relationship. These articles have a lot of suggestions for you.

How to Find Out What You Want in a Relationship “Knowing exactly what you want out of a relationship is very difficult, especially if you’re young or inexperienced. Even if you’ve dated many other people, every relationship is unique, and you might have different priorities now than you have had in the past. Finding out what you want in a relationship can be a laborious process, but it’s worth it.”

Tony Robbins on How To Master Relationships This is a pitch for an audio program, but the article itself goes into great detail about how to create a better relationship “Some of the best relationship advice I learned long ago is that “opposites attract, but similarities bind.” I also learned that “true love is falling in love with the same person over and over.” But it’s time to dive deeper. Much deeper. This article is a deep dive on how to find love, create your ultimate relationship, and improve your relationship skills.”

When a ‘deal breaker’ really isn’t. Knowing what’s important in a relationship “Imagine your ideal mate. What would he or she look like? Do for a living? Be passionate about? Now imagine who that person wouldn’t be. What characteristics would immediately shoot up a red flag and have you hightailing it in the other direction?”

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In this week’s blog, we wrote about how to laugh and rejoice in difficult times. These articles shed some interesting light on laughter.

Laughter: The Surprising Secret to Surviving Tough Times “Just 24 hours earlier, I was overwhelmed (three keynotes and four workshops in three weeks) and in pain (recovering from foot surgery). And that was before I’d even thought about what was going on in the world. It’s been a distressing month, hasn’t it? But there I was, feeling happier than I had in a long time. The cure to my bad mood had been simple — I just needed a good laugh.”

Dalai Lama on Laughter and Compassion “I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious. When people ask me how I find the strength to laugh now, I reply that I am a professional laugher.”

10 things you may not know about laughter “The first time I did stand-up comedy my only coherent thought afterwards was that I wanted to do it again immediately, and do it better. Why is laughter so much fun? As a psychologist, this is especially puzzling as pretty much everything we think about laughter is wrong. So here are 10 things you, probably, didn’t know about laughter.”

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In this week’s blog, we wrote that gratefulness expands your relationship and your world. These articles have some interesting research results about gratitude.

Is Gratitude the Antidote to Relationship Failure? “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 – relationships fail when partners begin to take each other for granted. And I thought: if taking each other for granted is the poison, maybe gratitude is the antidote.”

This Is How A Little Gratitude Can Save Your Relationship “When both partners focus on what the other isn’t doing and take each other for granted, the relationship is filled with resentment, frustration, and bitterness. The truth is, a good relationship starts with you. When you bring positivity and happiness into the relationship, your partner will rise up to match and then your relationship will flourish.”

How to Build a Strong Relationship: Express Gratitude “Expressing gratitude has captured the interest of many social psychologists, and they’ve shown its powerful effects across a range of studies and types of relationships. In essence, gratitude is when you acknowledge and appreciate the things that are valuable and meaningful to you. In general, gratitude is good for you. Research has shown that feeling grateful is related to optimism, physical health, positive mood, better sleep, and feeling more connected to other people. Gratitude is also related to reduced materialism and overall satisfaction with life.”

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In this week’s blog, we wrote about balancing togetherness and individuality in a relationship. These articles echo our position, and have some interesting stories.

The Importance of Thinking Separately in Your Relationships ““We have to be on the same page.” “You’ll never 100 percent agree with me.” “We’ll never see eye to eye.” How many times have you heard things like that from the people you love? Many of us believe that in order to get along with the people we care about, we need to have similar ideas, opinions, religions, and political affiliations.”

Individuality And Togetherness “… Before all of this started, I had thought that my husband and I had one of the healthiest, happiest relationships that I knew of. And maybe we do. But I was able to see some emotional fusion that I had not before. He was breaking out of our normal relationship pattern by following his own directive, as Schnarch might say. This change scared me. What if I started doing everything I wanted without consider his feelings and needs? Surely we would split up. This was fear talking.”

Balancing Togetherness and Individuality “Mutuality is one of the most important aspects of marriage success. But how do you become part of a couple while maintaining a strong sense of yourself? How do you manage your need for time together and time apart? And what do you do if you and your partner have different ideas of how much time to spend together? How much time together is enough? Is there such a thing as too much togetherness? Is there a way to maintain closeness even when your work life is especially demanding of your time and attention, perhaps including prolonged separations?”

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