Healthy Relationships

Earlier this week I attended a workshop for Healthy Relationships. While I felt that the presentation didn't have a ton of depth it did provide a lot of good information and considerations about healthy romantic relationships.

A main focus was on accepting oneself and how that was basically the most important quality for a good healthy relationship as, if you don't love yourself, how could you ever think that someone else could love you? So, that's was good, sounds like high self-esteem is a good thing. On top of that, qualities such as trust and communication were emphasized. Personally, I think communication is really important and in my relationships that has always been the most difficult thing to accomplish. While its importance was emphasized, I would have liked if the workshop approached more specific instances where communication can be difficult and how to approach those situations.

Lastly, an emphasis was put on communicating in an assertive but respectful manner. I liked this focus because, in line with my importance given to communication, I think it is very important in a relationship to be direct and clear with what you are thinking and feeling about the relationship. Additionally, this reasonably applies to any relationship, not just romantic ones. After the workshop, I found myself reflecting on the fact that I have been somewhat upset with my roommate recently which was silly because I didn't communicate well at all why I was upset (which of course resulted in nothing positive happening regarding the matter). Of course the best way to deal with this was not stewing but being clear with my roommate about what was bothering me and taking steps to address it.