Relationships can be the source of great joy or great pain. Most relationships contain a little bit of both. Most people seem to want to be in a relationship, but quite often, we are just not quite sure how to keep them growing forward and prevent them from hitting the skids. We look for relationship advice in many different places. The advice we receive is typically a direct reflection of the source we look to for relationship advice. If we ask an expert in communication, we are told that we need to communicate openly, but what does that really mean? If we ask a love expert, we are told that relationships are two-way streets, but why does it seem that one person seems to do most of the giving and the other does most of the taking? If we ask someone we focuses on gender differences in relationships, we are left wondering are women better at relationships than men are? Why is it so difficult to make a relationship work? After all, if two people care about each other and they both want to be in a relationship, shouldn’t it be easy? All of these questions are common when discussing relationships and the relationship advice we get can be as confusing as the questions we ask.
Relationships are certainly complicated, but we shouldn’t be surprised by that. After all, people are complicated. We don’t always understand ourselves, much less each other. But even if men are from Mars and women are from Venus, it doesn’t have to mean it’s hopeless. We can learn how to figure out what it is we really want from a relationship and how to get it, but we have to start by asking questions of our relationship partners and ourselves. Then, we have to learn to start listening to the answers. The best relationship advice we can look for is advice that teaches us about ourselves, not advice on how to ‘fix’ the other person.
When we are involved in a relationship and are in need of advice, many of us turn to the people who know us the best and love us in spite of ourselves. While we may not get unbiased advice from our closest loved ones, we will get support and understanding, which is often what we need most anyway. If we are very fortunate, our closest advisors will have the knack of being able to point out the ways in which we ourselves may need to make changes, rather than pointing an accusatory finger at the other half of our relationship.
It is easy to find expert advice on relationships. From the rows of self-help books in your corner bookstore to the gurus on the daytime talk shows, there is usually a wealth of advice on what to do to enhance our relationships and make the kind of changes that are needed to work out difficulties. It is important to remember, though, that this type of relationship advice is very general in nature and cannot be applied to every situation.
One of the benefits of the advancing changes of the Internet is that there are forums available to talk to others when we need relationship advice. The anonymity of a forum can make it easier for us to be open and honest about our own contributions to our relationship problems, which can be a vital step towards getting the most helpful advice. Remember, we cannot change other people; we can only change ourselves. So, the next time you need relationship advice, don’t be afraid to honestly discuss the problem -including your own part in it- and you will likely find just the relationship advice that you need the most.