The Secret Ingredient for Successful Relationships

As humans, our lives are centered around relationships; be it family, friendships, dating, education, religion, career, etc. We can never do without relating with another person. For the fact that we are not the only ones on this planet, building healthy relationships is something we must deal with in other to become who we want to be. Even as Christians, we are only as powerful as the strength of our relationship with our God. With this in mind, we need to take a look at one of the major ingredients of a successful relationship.

Trust….. Looking at it from the social point of view, it simply means believing in the honesty and reliability of others, a complete confidence in someone.

If we ever wish to experience peace and happiness in our relationships with people, we must learn to trust and be trusted. Relationships suffer disharmony when trust is in question. If there are trust issues, chances are that relationship may not survive for long; even if it does, it won’t be a happy one no matter the level of attraction or benefits attached.

Most relationships don’t come with any guarantees, making things like hurts, disappointment, fear, abandonment and even rejection all part of the deal. Trusting is a decision we must make if we ever want to enjoy peace and happiness in our relationships. You are not in a relationship with a robot, but with another human being with flaws, bad experiences and different opinions just like you. Trust is not about finding the perfect, trustworthy person, but agreeing to work through it together whenever these storms arise.

It is true that trusting means opening yourself up to someone else and this could be a huge risk for most of us especially if you have been hurt before; but one thing you should also understand is that building walls of defence between us and other people doesn’t really keep us safe, it only keeps us lonely in a cold prison. Here is my advice… “If the relationship is important to you, take the risk to trust. If it’s not important, walk out of it politely” .

It is possible to be emotionally attached to someone and not trust them. If we ever want to enjoy the full benefits of any relationship, we must learn how to trust and to be trusted