“If you’re still looking for that one person who will change your life, take a look in the mirror.” – Roman Price
Human beings are social animals and require relationships with others; human beings do not require another relationship besides the one with themselves. In the former, people need healthy relationships with family, friends, colleagues, community members, and romantic partners in order to gain the intrinsic value of meaningful connection. Today society is too distracted that connection is left on the wayside. For instance, divorce rates continue to escalate demonstrating a growing problem of disconnectedness and hedonistic joy. People are always on the go and never step-back to observe their current state in order to reflect on what is missing and how to resolve any imbalances. Deliberate and meaningful connection is necessary, because it nurtures our spirit. Greater connection leads to greater purpose, because your existence begins to serve others.
Moreover, as individuals we are capable of cultivating relationships. However, relationships take work, energy, time, and even sacrifice. In our current world of extroversion coupled with the rise of social media, an illusion of connection has befallen society. Rates of individuals feeling lonely and depressed are increasing even though they are rarely alone and they show no signs of mental illness. Quantity of social relationships is not as important as the quality of the relationships. Numbers may satisfy and add to the resulting feeling of connection and happiness only if they are meaningful. Attaching meaning to a relationship enables its capacity to endure. Significant relationships change lives.
For the latter concept, all you need is you. All you need is you to make the life-altering decision to build relationships with others and build a strong relationship with yourself. Nobody else can accomplish the task for you. Look inward and get to know that person fully first. The more aware you are about yourself, then the more likely you are better equipped to serve others as a human being, friend, family member, and neighbor. Moreover, the more you discover about yourself such as passions and interests, then the more readily you will attract like-minded people into your life, which eases the process for connection. Craft yourself into the person you want to be and you could easily be your best company if you allow yourself. Never stop growing.
Exercise: Go through your cell phone’s contact list and determine how many times you have had a meaningful conversation with each contact in the past month.
Bonus: 1) Go through any social media accounts and determine how many times you have had a meaningful exchange with each contact in the past 4 months.
2) Ask yourself who do you call when you have a bad day? Also, who would you call if you could only have one phone call to say goodbye to one person?
~I do not have any social media accounts besides LinkedIn. I have 4 friends across the nation who I can rely on to talk about my bad day; distance does not play a factor. I would call my non-blood father for my last phone call and goodbye.~
//E.G.//
againstmodernconsciousness 