Friday Focus: Think About Others in Your Relationships

There is lot that comes with thinking about others in relationships. The relationships we are discussing are friendships, romantic relationships, familial relationships, etc. 

Thinking about others in relationships involves care, awareness, empathy, love, and selflessness. Being there for another through thick and thin and to recognize when they are going through something is so important. This comes with sacrifice and difficulty, but it is so worth it. A lot of good things lie beyond sacrifice, hard work, and discipline.

In today's blog post, I specifically want to focus on the idea of reflecting on your relationships and understanding how you can improve in the relationship. When you review your day at the end of the day, it is important to be less self-centered and try to view what happened throughout the day in other people's eyes. This ties into relationships. When you think about your friend, your partner, your sibling, your parent, etc., do you think about what you get from them? Or do you think about what you give to them?

It is important to understand when a relationship is toxic and to remove yourself and lessen your exposure from the relationship(s) as you can't change someone without their permission. Change also takes a long time and is hard work. Keep in mind that mistakes happen and that doesn't mean that the person themselves are toxic. There is a difference between mistakes and behavior patterns. Toxicity lies in a person not so much in their mistakes, but instead in their toxic behavior patterns.

Getting back to the earlier question, what did you answer? For me, I usually think about what the relationship brings me and how I am benefiting from it. Make sure to also think about what others are gaining from your relationship with them. What can you do to make others feel more loved and cared about in your relationships? This should be a constant question in your head everyday. We usually take for granted what we have, especially relationships we have. Take actions to share your genuine love and care for the people in your life and whatever happens will happen, but if you do this and are true to yourself, the right people will stick around.

Note: A lot of information from this post comes from and is inspired by the book “A Simple Life-Changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola's Examen" by Jim Manney and from one of James Clear's posts on Instagram about striving "to give value before you ask for value."

Today's Challenge:

Go about today asking yourself this question... "What can I do to make others feel more loved and cared about in my relationships?" Find an answer to this question and demonstrate your answer through actions, like calling your friends and telling them how much you appreciate them, making food for your family, etc.

Ongoing Challenge:

Take today's challenge and do it everyday. Try to be less self-centered and think about others more. Be selfless, loving, caring, and empathetic everyday!