“Relationship is the mirror in which you see yourself as you are.” -from Relationships to Oneself, to Others, to the World by Jiddu Krishnamurti
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, specifically in the context of my romantic relationships. It’s so clear to me now that every significant partnership I’ve been in has catalyzed the next iteration of my personal growth.
None more than my current relationship with my husband.
It makes sense really. The person that knows you most intimately can see things that not everyone else does. They reflect back to us the things that we often can’t {or don’t want to} see about ourselves.
Yes, this can be super uncomfortable. And it often manifests as the areas of conflict or friction that we experience in our interactions with that person.
But that’s where the work is.
If we resist that work, we stay stagnant. We miss out on opportunities for growth. We wonder why our relationships feel difficult. We might jump from partner to partner and repeat our same patterns, stay stuck in a perpetual negative cycle with someone, or continue on in a superficial relationship that isn’t fully authentic.
If we are willing to allow the discomfort to grow us, we uplevel our lives in ways we never could have imagined.
Our partnerships are here to teach us. To show us what we haven’t yet seen.
Even when it’s painful, it’s all FOR us. It’s for our evolution into the next amazing version of ourselves. And that makes the uncomfortable parts more acceptable.
Necessary.
Exciting even.
You never know what you’ll uncover.
