relationships

Relationships are an essential aspect to human life. Now when I say this, I don't mean to limit it to only intimate relationships, I mean the whole gamut of different social interactions we can have with each other. There are 2 major types, or forms of relationships. One that God makes for you, and the other which you choose for yourself. Now, when God makes a relationship, such as that formed between siblings, or between relatives (yes, I would include husbands / wives here) - these relationships are an essential part of life, and regardless of how negative these relationships may feel they cannot be changed. For me, this carries several layers of meaning. Firstly, I must believe that these are the best possible relationships we can have. I don't mean that everyone's home / family life will be perfect. Far from it... I mean that these bonds play an irreplaceable role in shaping our individual psyche. If it weren't for our families, we wouldn't be the people we are... and for better or for worse, these specific bonds are God's way of shaping us in some way.

Looking at relationships that we form ourselves, these include friends, acquaintances, rivals and our interactions with all other people whom we are not related to. These bonds are formed by us and they require us to consciously choose to create and fulfill them. I believe these formed relationships are God's way of giving us a choice in who we become. These represent our free will. These relationships are the ones that act as a mirror. They let us see ourselves, because by looking at those whom we surround ourselves, we have a great view into our own respective persona.

A relationship between any disparate individuals is the basis of being human. These bonds can be driven by fate, or by intent. Both are necessary for true knowledge of the self, for the first step towards knowing the self, is to know others, and how you appear to them. I firmly believe that free will and pre-destination act in many aspects of our lives, however, I feel that this is most apparent in the context of a relationship. The interesting thing in all of this though, is the fact that these bonds are essential to the human experience... why would this be? Because a relationship is a spiritual experience. It isn't something that happens to you only on a material, social and physical level. A relationship, an interaction, a word between yourself and another changes you spiritually. This change can manifest in many ways, but at the end of the day, we should stay conscious of the power we have over others, and they have over us.

Make another person happy, in fact, make everyone as happy as you can, for in this positive bond lies a form of spiritual salvation.