Last night I saw the movie The Internship, about people trying to win a job at Google. Aside from being thoroughly entertained and laughing almost all the way through it, I saw that there was a wonderful message to be shared. The movie reminds us that relationships are everywhere, and that human connection is the most important ingredient in living a fulfilled life.
Consider your relationships. Do you make them a priority? Or do you let your connections to others get overcome by other desires, such as your job or your passion for golf or tennis? It is easy to assume that relationships don’t need much effort to maintain, and that friendships and marriages can just flourish on their own. Not so!
The movie showed how a relationship had a direct impact on the outcome of a financial gain (that being winning a job at Google). Without teamwork and friendship, no one team would have won the internship. But what is even more important than winning? Being thrown together with several other people, previously unknown, in a test of knowledge, afforded them a golden opportunity to make new friendships. Learning about each other, accepting differences and combining talents became the real win, ultimately creating friendships for life.
Today, see if you can make your relationship that powerful. If so, you, too, will be a winner.
Here are some ways to do that:
1. Hold up your part of the bargain. When you do so, your partner can count on you. A relationship is rather like carrying a table up a hill together. You have one end, and your partner has the other.
2. Trust your partner. You’re both journeying through life together. It’s easier to deal with life’s ups and downs with someone by your side.
3. Forgive easily and don’t sweat the small stuff. And believe me, there’s a lot of small stuff!
4. Enjoy the ways in which your partner is different than you are. Let your partner know, often, how much you appreciate his or her strengths.
5. Be honest with your partner about who you are and what you need. In turn, listen to what your partner needs. Together, you grow as a team and add to each other.
Try carrying that table up a hill together. You’ll learn a lot about each other in just the space of a few yards. Think teamwork, and walk forward. In the same way, in life it only takes a couple of motivated people to have a powerful relationship that can move mountains.
