Photo by Simon Matzinger
Yes. If you let them.
How do you react when your partner or family member finally starts responding to you differently or doing the things you’ve been asking them to do? I know you’d like to think you embrace that change, but do you really?
More often what I see is people resisting the very changes they are asking someone to make. Here’s why:
1. We are not islands. There’s a whole system that’s probably adapted to how each individual typically responds OR there was a system in place that the individual adapted to (depending on how you look at it). In a close relationship, our ways of interacting are very interconnected. Which means when one person changes, the other person has to change too.
2. We’re guarded. We defend against accepting that someone has changed so we don’t get hurt. The irony is, you’re already hurting.
Dare to accept the possibility that your partner or family member can change, and accept that change is not a one-way street. What will you change?
