We have to forgive each other for being who we are along the way

If we’re not connecting with other people in ways that create genuine relationships of meaning and depth, then why are we even here?

Those precious connections are the cleanest, most life giving fuel that helps us to meet the demands of reality. These relationships structure our very selves. Those closest to us contribute to making us who we are.

But the thing is, these bonds are not free. All relationships involve their own versions of economic systems that we make investments in. As a mate of mine likes to say, the difference between friend and friendly is the burden of mutual inconvenience.

Real relationships take real work. It’s courtship at its finest. That’s why so few people are willing to accept the real burdens and risks of the endeavor. It means we have go out of our way for each other.

We have to tolerate the debris that gets in the way of our allowing love to blossom.

We have to forgive each other for being who we are along the way.

We have to keep going on new adventures that tie knots in our bond that nothing will ever loosen.

We have to keep loving each other precisely where we are today, building a connection rooted in the most substantial parts of our present selves.

Reminds me of something my father once told me.

Be proud of your relationships. You’re setting an example for the world.

Hell, if that kind of pride makes me a sinner, then grab some nails and a cross and get after it.

The pain is worth it to me. It’s why we’re here. To stick together. As isolated as we have become, as antisocial as we can be, the answer lies in the other. Buber’s philosophy of interpersonal relations gave many names to this sacred fuel.

The eternal thou, the path to divinity through human contact, the involuntary nervous system of human beings, the electricity that surges amid physical bodies, the pulsing field of energy and the humming electrical current between people, the mystery of reciprocity and the healing though meeting.

There is no competition, no trophy and no achievement more important than that.

LET ME ASK YA THIS….
Do you work on the skill of sipping the divine nectar of human connection?