The instances of relationship-crisis have become increasingly frequent these days. It all leads to emotional disturbances which affect the mental health of people. For a beautiful life one has to make their relationships beautiful. In this discussion, Dr. Debilal Mishra, a young communication specialist, currently working as an Assistant Prof., Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communication at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack is addressing the questions on the subject in this column titled Finding Hope with DLM.
How does one define a relationship?
A relationship can be seen as a medium of happiness. It connotes how we are related to ourselves as well as others. Relationship is not just a condition of identity, rather it has to do with love, understanding, trust, acceptance and sacrifice all the time.
What is the major barrier to a relationship?
There can be no relationship without trust. The biggest challenge to trust in any relationship is misunderstanding which results from a strong sense of self-conceit and/or ego. If you can’t trust someone, you can never accept them. We must remember that respect is the real basis of a relationship. Most of the problems arise due to our ego-led nature of not respecting the people and emotions.
Love and respect go together. Lack of respect also means lack of love. We must learn to be respectful to the people and emotions in all our relationships. We should understand that the true beauty of a relationship lies in its duty.
How does a relationship affect our life?
An excellent question indeed! A beautiful life requires a beautiful relationship; and a beautiful relationship verily requires a beautiful heart and feeling. We need to have a heart that beats with love- a heart that cares, a heart that shares and a heart that responds and corresponds to both the manifest and unmanifest emotions. A true relationship creates a great emotional balance as central to the success of all our endeavours.
What is ‘true relationship’ according to you?
Hahaha. It suggests a relationship based on love, not anything else! There is always a clear difference between love and dependency. ‘I can’t live without you’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘I love you’! There are always two categories of people around. There are some people who need you, and there are some who love you. Those who need you may leave you anytime, but those who love you will keep loving you even if you leave them. One can very well relate it within the practical contexts of experience.
A need-based relationship has got its own limitations and challenges. It is always influenced by the nature of the needs and the related expectations. Simply put, a relationship can never be confined to the need it is based on! It has to be free from all narrowness.
Do you think understanding plays a key role in making a relationship successful?
Absolutely! Understanding is the lifeblood of a relationship.Understanding affects our behaviour; and our behaviour affects our relationship. So it is how we understand each other that matters. Understanding is never that easy too. The first thing is we must have a constant will, commitment and effort to understand someone. There is no such problem if you can’t understand, but there is a great problem if you don’t want to understand.
So, understanding is always a matter of sensitivity, receptivity and connectivity. We must have adequate patience and a emotional-behavioural strength. Understanding may cost our ego and nature, but it can save a relationship. Sometimes very small things count. It is how we express our emotions that is important. Lastly, understanding each other is a great joy. It makes the relationship truly beautiful.
