Rethinking Relationships

'Relationships are here to make us conscious instead of happy'

I am a big fan of Eckhart Tolle’s work. I think his books and talks can be truly enlightening. And one of my favourite quotes of his is this one:

“If I accept the fact that my relationships are here to make me conscious, instead of happy, then my relationships become a wonderful self mastery tool that keeps realigning me with my higher purpose for living.”

Now this isn’t necessarily in line with how most people view relationships. We tend to be conditioned with an idea about meeting ‘the one’ and living happily ever after. But, one look at divorce rates (43% according to the fountain of knowledge that is Google) shows that this doesn’t seem to tally.

Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash

Long-term relationships can be challenging, and I would suggest this is no bad thing. Few people can trigger us as well as our partners, and this opens up a huge opportunity for growth. Because when old wounds and hurts get triggered, we are being shown where we are not free.

So if we can embrace this fact, rather than blaming our partners for ‘making’ us feel uncomfortable feelings, then we can start leaning into the discomfort and accept and even heal old wounds. This is something my wife and I have tried to adopt through our relationship, and we speak about it in this week’s episode of The Life Lessons Podcast - which you can listen to here.

We are quite open and vulnerable - and don’t suggest everyone needs to approach relationships in the way that we do. But perhaps some people may benefit from a slight change in perspective. Either way - we are intrigued to hear your thoughts, as you get an insight into life in the Mundie marriage, warts and all!