100 Simple Secrets of Great Relationships: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It (100 Simple Secrets, 3)

by David Niven

We have to be able to give each other the freedom to be able to develop our own talents. To not stand in each other’s way, but to stand with each other, helping if we can, watching if we can’t.”

See Possibilities Where Others See Obstacles

Constant attention to the strengths of any relationship will strengthen it.

Fulfilling relationships have everything to do with who you are but not with what you are.

The real prize goes to those who refuse to compete with their partner. That prize is contentment and a more satisfying relationship.

Attitude Triumphs over Outcome

There is no way to predict exactly what will happen or when it will happen. What you can do is continue.

The Past Is Not the Future

Your relationship history is not your relationship future. Your relationship future is not limited by your experiences of the past or by your disappointments of the past. You

Pursue What You Need Forever, Not What You Want Today

“Regardless of how well you know a person, and how long you have lived with that person, I think corresponding with them shows you a completely different side of them,” Brenda says. “A letter, even an email, is like a window into their soul. I think I know him better now than when I lived every day with him.

We define our relationships based not on the best days or the worst days but on the average days. Strive to be supportive in average ways on average days, and you will set in place a major building block of a relationship. ♥ ♥ ♥

Relationships crumble under the weight of imbalance. Neither person can be more important. Neither person can be more involved or committed. Neither person can make all the decisions. Neither person can make all the sacrifices. In the project that is a relationship, no one gets top billing because without two equals there is no relationship.