The Most Important Relationship

"The most important relationship we have in our lives is with our selves".

And even though we are the only one who are present at every moment of our lives since birth onwards - this relationship can be the most difficult one to cultivate. This may be because society places such emphasis on the importance of being in a romantic partnership, even teaching us to set aside our own needs for the needs of another. Until we know ourselves, however, we cannot possibly choose the right relationship to support our mutual growth toward our highest potential.

By allowing ourselves to be comfortable with being alone, we can become the person who is independent and who knows what he wants in life. Perhaps at no other time in history has it been possible for people to survive, and even thrive, while living alone. But before one can successfully venture out into a higher level of relationship, a stronger character and well defined personal objectives and attitudes have to be founded. First, we have to build a stable fortress to rest ourselves financially, socially, and emotionally without or depending on somebody else for survival in any of these realms. With this freedom, we can pursue our own interests and create fulfilling partnerships with friends, business partners, creative cohorts, and neighbors.

Once we’ve satisfied our needs and created our support system, a mate then becomes someone with whom we can share the bounty of all we’ve created and the beauty we’ve discovered within ourselves. As we move away from tradition and fall into more natural cycles of being in the world today, we may find that there are times where being alone nourishes us and other periods in which a partnership is best for our growth.

We might as well need to learn to create spaces to be alone within relationships. When we can shift our expectations of our relationships with ourselves and others to opportunities for discovery, we open ourselves to forge new paths and encounter uncharted territory. Being willing to know and love ourselves, and to find what truly makes us feel deeply and strongly, gives us the advantage of being able to attract and choose the right people with whom to share ourselves, whether those relationships fall into recognizable roles or not.

Choosing to enjoy being alone allows us to fully explore our most important relationship—the one with our true selves.