Week 5/Ch. 4

This week’s chapter reading was very informative and easy to relate to my life. We all have relationships, whether it be with our family members, friends, or significant other. There are several elements to a relationship. There is also unhealthy relationships. There are many different ways to love, and many different people to love. That love can change, and it can also end. This chapter opened my eyes to all of those different aspects.

On a personal note, I have been in a relationship for almost 3 years. During the school year, my relationship becomes long distance as my boyfriend goes to school in New Hampshire. We met when I was 19 and began dating when I was 20. I am now going to be 23 later this month, and in those few years of life people grow and change a lot. It has been nothing short of challenging adapting to these changes and growing together, but we have chose to always work through it because thankfully we love each other and have a healthy relationship.

Don’t get me wrong, we have had our fair share of conflict, as most relationships do. I have lost many friends throughout the years, either because I felt betrayed by them or we simply outgrew each other in life. I have gone days without talking to my sister even though she is my best friend, and I have “moved out” of my house (by that I mean go to my friends house for a few nights) when I’ve been mad at my parents. Now that I’m older and more mature, I deal with relationship conflict much better. I don’t shut down and stop communicating, or run away from the problem. I always knew how important communication was in having successful relationships, but this chapter really validated that for me.

I can also say I have been in an unhealthy relationship and that was a really hard time in my life. Toxic relationships can be very damaging to both people, and they can sometimes be really hard to get out of. It is important to identify when a relationships becomes unhealthy and to seek the support to end that relationship.

Not to be mushy, but I am a firm believer that having a good relationship with yourself is the first step in having a good relationship with anyone else. If you are happy with yourself and hold yourself to a high respect, it it less likely you will allow someone else to mistreat or disrespect you. Likewise, you will most likely treat other people better as well. Overall, your relationships in life will be more fulfilling and successful.

In relation to my journey, my relationships are very important to me. Making sure those relationships remain healthy can sometimes be an exhausting effort, but I personally prioritize my loved ones over everything else. When these relationships have ups and downs, it contributes to my stress, eating habits, etc. For me, it is essential to nurture my relationships in order to stay healthy. But like I said earlier, it all starts with taking care of myself first. I think we can all agree that these things are true. Tying last week into this week, I have been experiencing extra stress and some relationship struggles, and both have played off of each other. So my goal to lose weight and exercise more took the back burner while I have put extra time into taking care of myself. I included one of my favorite quotes that I heard DVF (a true fashion icon) say on television years back, and I hope you all can appreciate the importance of it!