Relationships

Achieving the cooperation and shared-vision for reaching a mutual understanding between the parties requires everyone involved in the relationship to be aware of the investment to understand the true nature of the relationship itself. Relationships are like annuities entitling the investors to a long-term series of annual sums. Having this understanding about friendships, the relationship is my investment and theirs that must grow with interest over time. It makes me wonder about the relationships we have in our professional lives; at work, in organizations and across our communities.

I often wonder if business relationships can survive over time like a friendship in the social context of life. I find myself wondering at times if my business relationships can be considered as genuine and true as the few real relationships I have in the social context of my life. Why must our business relationships feel as if there's a quid pro quo or underlining agenda at times? Does this mean that they're not healthy? Or, does it simply mean that it is what it is; a simple acquaintance that only resides in a certain space of time or real estate at a given time – to be treated different from other relationships we may have? Now, I'm not saying that it happens in all of professional relationships, but I am sure that you can name a few that resemble the quid pro quo style that I am referring.

In the end, it doesn't matter if a relationship is a business one or a genuine friendship. The choice is basically up to you about how you want it to be nurtured over time. Building healthy relationships requires you to understand the “art of detachment” and the “wisdom of uncertainty.” The art of detachment carries with it the freedom to let go of your past in order to accept the unknowns in the future. Stepping into the future requires you to break the bonds in your present to trust what is not yet seen; possibly filled with abundant possibilities after the surrender of the past has been completed in order to carry life into the future. The future is filled with creativity, waiting to be unharnessed and allowed to gallop, with unrelenting freedom.

This is how friendships, social and in business, can begin on a path of prosperity to last over a lifetime. The art of detachment is a third friend in any friendship of two and so on. Regardless of the friendships we are building in our work capacity or in the social context of life, the art of detachment falls in line always knowing its place. It will find the right time to introduce the wisdom of uncertainty that most people wonder about out of curiosity what to expect next.

The wisdom of uncertainty is a clear picture of who you are as an individual; the way you think, speak, act, behave; considering your character and the direction you are headed with your life – in life. It is your willingness to accept the unknowns and feel confident about the adventurous journey uncertainty creates. So, as we take the time to be true with ourselves, accepting the art of detachment to be free with our thoughts regardless of the uncertainties, we'll be able to see the possibilities to remain more open about the mysteries life has to offer – in the people we meet, the relationships we choose to develop and the lives we decide to influence along the paths throughout our journey.

As we continue to allow relationships to be welcomed in through the cracks in our personal windows, it would be important to remember a few things before making the investment. Relationships carry with them a way to pay life forward; all good investments until we allow them to become poor performing annuities:

Relationships are more than people, they are you and you are them.
Relationships treat you the way you treat them.
Relationships is not potential waiting to happen, they are possibilities to be created.
Relationships are people, places, actions, noises, quietness, happiness and despair; all things in life that create a healthy balance for people to grow, to know and to go somewhere alone or together.
Relationships are teams engineered with accountability, responsibility and survivability talents waiting to be exposed at the right time and in the right moment.

So, as I sit still wondering about the next team we will encounter, I can't help to wonder what investments I and we are bringing to the relationships. What deposits and withdrawals are we making? What impacts or influences are we causing from the art of detachment's perspective? All of these things run through my mind as I sit here on a bench in the middle aisle of a busy mall watching people and the relationships people have with themselves and… other people.

I've come to my own conclusion about relationships; what changes our world is consciousness. What create consciousness are relationships. Relationships have risks, limitations, disappointments, expectations, and an uncanny way of dying, while being reborn all at the same time. They are filled with happiness, joy and laughter, abundance and opportunity with the ability to transform into uncommon bonds of love and despair simultaneously. Relationships are unique. They are raw and uncut, polished and unpolished. They are funny to watch and not so fun at times when you are the leading character in a very bad movie. They build with levels of paramount conclusions that never end, yet they remain in chorus with life's drumbeat as a Broadway musical performance.

Relationships are a special kind of… well, special. How do you think about relationships? Some may think that relationships don't require all of this thinking, but I am in the people business, always in contact with people on a relationship basis. Some I want and enjoy, while others I do not – want or wish to enjoy, but in the end, it is still a relationship where I am a party with a certain level of accountability and responsibility to ensure its survivability.

Relationships are a mirror of life; my life, your life and theirs! I plan to do my life better.

When was the last time you considered to do life better?