Do you know how to foster happy relationships? Happiness always starts from within, so let’s start there. If you look around at your family and friends, you will see that the happiest people are the ones who don’t pretend to know what’s right for others. They don’t try to control anyone but themselves. And more likely than not, they experience many happy relationships in their life.
You will further see that the people who are most miserable are those who are always trying to control others. Even if they have a lot of power, the constant resistance they feel from those they are trying to control deprives them, and their relationships, of happiness.
If you try to control a friend, the friendship will be short-lived. If you try to control a family member, the relationship will be strained. Knowing this, ponder whether you should use controlling approaches with those you really want to influence, even if they are not close friends or family. Control rarely creates happy relationships.
The Secret to Happy Relationships
The fact is that you will rarely, if ever, solve a relationship problem by trying to make the other person see that you are right and he or she is wrong. On the other hand, you have probably never heard someone say, “I’m having a problem with what you are doing and I think I have to change what I do or we’ll never solve the problem.”
Yet, that is the secret to improving relationships. Just keep it a secret. It’s not necessary to say it out loud. BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO THINK IT.
In any relationship, rather than attempting to correct or control the other person, simply ask yourself, “What can I do to improve the situation?” The result will be an option you will think of that—by YOUR changing—will be so much more effective in influencing the other to change than any attempt at control.
Tip: Happy relationships don’t happen by chance. They happen due to a positive mindset and the realization that controlling others is not the answer.
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