7 Essential Ingredients in Making Any Relationship Work for You

7 Essential Ingredients in Making Any Relationship Work for You

As most of us can attest, relationships are tricky. Any relationship - whether intimate, friendship, familial, work-related, political or social - can be the best thing that ever happened to us ... or our worst nightmare. Rarely is it ever something in between. But the truth is - even where our family is concerned - most of us would just as soon not have anything to do with someone with whom we don't get along than to put in the extra effort to make the relationship work.

Yet, too often what we don't realize is that we are the ones who create both the ecstasy and the agony in our relationships. This is because how we perceive and respond to the actions of another plays a major role in whether or not any given relationship will be successful...or not.

Of course "success" implies different things to each of us, since generally, we all long to be loved, understood, heard and validated, albeit in different ways. Ultimately, a successful relationship depends on the ability to listen to and empathize with another. Empathy is a key factor in the majority of those relationships which are not only functional, but successful as well.

In fact, for any relationship to work well at least seven essential ingredients are necessary: communication, honesty, trust, empathy, compromise, compassion and love. Without these, our relationships stand little chance of success.

The 7 Essential Ingredients

From my own personal experience, as well as extensive research into the areas of human psychology, sociology, emotions, interactions and sexuality, I have determined that there are seven fundamental ingredients needed to provide a stable foundation for a successful relationship. This is not to say, however, that more is not necessary, or that it may not differ from one relationship to another. Yet, generally, from what I've observed, these seven - at least - are essential if we wish to have a functional and long-lasting relationship. And this applies to us all - both females and males.