Brain Food #606

The transformative nature of relationships

Thoughts of the day

Though self-efficacy may be stealing the spotlight as an important component of having a fulfilled life, we may too often forget the important role that others may play around us in our own trajectory. In the same way that we may be too ashamed, busy, or proud to ask for help, we may often fail to appreciate the impact of the people we have in our lives on our wellbeing.

Yet studies have shown that those with close, fulfilling relationships live longer, feel better, and can be more successful.

Carl Jung wrote of the transformative nature of relationships, and not necessarily those of the romantic kind: “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” And this transformation can propel people into being who they could otherwise only imagine, a distant fantasy of oneself living in a parallel universe, always just out of reach.

Despite our self-efficacy, and perhaps because of it, we all forget how great we can be, how great we already are. Perhaps the secret lies in simply telling each other. No matter how driven, self-motivated and independent one can be, our relationships are our sustenance.

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”
— Mark Twain