Three Paradigm Shifts About Relationships That Are Setting Me Free

Here are three “What if” questions I’ve been kicking around lately. And they’re changing the way I do relationships. Thought I’d share them with you:

1. What if the whole idea we were in competition with the people around us was a lie? What if we were just supposed to connect with people and enjoy?

By this I mean what if all the comparing could be replaced with connecting? There’s something hidden, unspoken and even a little confusing within me that compares myself to others. I’d like for that to go away and I’m working on that. It’s been helpful and enjoyable to simply realize my life has been blessed, I deserve none of what I’ve been given, and there will always be people with more than me and people with less.

*Photo Credit: smoorenburg, Creative Commons

2. What if relationships were meant to be enjoyed, not fixed?

This question is so freeing. What if when I’m with a friend the only thing I’m supposed to do is enjoy the relationship. I’m a builder by nature. I want to change everything and make it better. But the problem is, other people don’t belong to me. I don’t get to change them. I can inspire them or encourage them and even rebuke them but it’s not my responsibility to change them. And, in fact, people have been given to us by God for our enjoyment. There are, of course, unsafe people, but I’m talking about those people we enjoy as friends and family. I want to start replacing my “fix” response with an “enjoy” response and just let people be themselves.

3. What if I were a gift to people the way they were a gift to me?

I tend to think most of my friends are more amazing than I am. They are more kind, more giving, more talented and seem to offer me more than I offer them. But what if this isn’t true? What if I was just as encouraging to my friends as they were to me? What if I believed that and lived into it and owned it and allowed for that reality to encourage me and make me an even more gracious and kind gift to the people around me? What If I believed God had me on the planet to give as well as to receive?

Three great questions I’ve been asking. What about you? What questions have you been asking about relationships?

Three Paradigm Shifts About Relationships That Are Setting Me Free is a post from: Storyline Blog