The Need for Balance


Every relationship is an ecosystem. Each person both feeds on and nourishes the others that are part of the eco-system. For a an eco-system to be sustainable, balance must be present. To use an analogy: if you and your partner are both pitchers of water and your energy exchange consists of pouring water back and forth between your two pitchers, if one person consistently pours more water than the other, one will overflow and water will be wasted and the other will ultimately be empty and have no more to give. At that point that relationship becomes bankrupt. The imbalance drains one person to a point that they have no more water to give.

Of course in life the eco-systems are more complex. Children may take a lot more than they give to their parents of what the parent needs but then this balances the fact that a parent did the same for each one of us. One friend might always be there for you but not need support, while another friend needs support from you.

Respect for balance creates the possibility for a relationship to be long term and healthy. In a sustainable relationship each person gives as much as they receive, and ideally both the giving and receiving adds mutual value.


Action: Where are you low in the nourishment of life? How can you negotiate an adjustment of the balance to create more vitality for you and your partners in relationship eco-system?






Contents
Cresting the Waves:

A guide to sailing through life on

Relation-Ships

Dane E. Rose