The Core Qualities Of Healthy Relationships
In life, you will encounter many relationships. To ensure that these relationships prosper rather than fail, you need to make sure the key qualities to sustaining a healthy relationship are present in the relationship. Expressing these qualities can help in keeping these relationships and bonds strong. Qualities like trust, loyalty, and vulnerability are what keep relationships strong and long-lasting.
Many pieces of literature provide examples of trust. In Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins, he tells us a story about a girl named Karana, who was left stranded for 2 decades after her people fled Mexico. Throughout the story she meets another young woman named Tutok, she doesn’t fully trust Tutok because a clan called the Aleutians killed Karana’s father and people from her tribe in the past on the island. Karana believes to think that Tutok wanted to find her so she can return later with the men from her tribe and take her, she did not trust Tutok. Tutok continues to go see Karana every day, and Karana realizes that Tutok is not going to betray her and begins to open up to her and trust her. This new trust that Karana grew for Tutok helped their relationship become stronger because instead of an enemy, Karana saw Tutok as a friend.
Along with trust, another important quality for a strong relationship is loyalty. Many people can show you loyalty, I believe this is one of the strongest factors that go into building a healthy relationship. Loyalty can be shown in many ways, but the most common way is when someone has yours back in any situation. Years ago, I was in a horrible situation. I felt like I had nobody, but I had a really good friend who stayed by my side through it all. My friend’s loyalty to me showed me that I can depend on her when I need someone. This helped our relationship grow because although we no longer live near each other, we still talk every day and she is now my best friend.
Another really important quality for a healthy relationship is a vulnerability. Vulnerability is the quality of being capable of being physically or emotionally wounded. Being vulnerable in a relationship is important because if you can put your guard down with someone a little bit and let them see the weaker side of you, ultimately you guys can grow together. Vulnerability is such a beautiful and powerful quality in a relationship for that very reason. I always have my guard up and I don’t trust people easily. I don’t have a hard time making friends, but I do not trust everyone that I talk to because I want to be able to see what kind of person they are first. Last year, I met one of my best friends. He and I were stuck at the hip, but it wasn’t always that way. At first I did not trust him right away because I wanted to get to know the real him, it took a while but eventually, I felt so comfortable with him that I told him everything and he was always my shoulder to cry on. This was such a beautiful revelation for us as friends because now our bond is so strong that we can be there for each other in a deeper way, and our friendship is not like any other because we have the ability to be vulnerable to each other that not a lot of people can say that they have with their relationships. Being able to trust someone enough that you can expose yourself to getting hurt by them is amazing quality and only helps relationships grow.
Examples of these three qualities: trust, loyalty, and vulnerability, in my life and literature have shown me that these are the most important qualities to have a healthy and long-lasting relationship. Some relationships last forever, and unfortunately, some are meant to end. These qualities can be supportive in keeping a bond strong and healthy throughout the years.
