These times of madness, chaos, and uncertainty on a global scale have served to remind us that love is the valuable possession we can have in this life. In times of hardship, we need to depend on our loved ones for support and for a general feeling of human interconnection and intimacy that brings us a sense of grounding and stability. Healthy relationships are very important for overall health, well-being, and happiness. However, a global pandemic can undoubtedly be straining on any type of personal relationship whether that be with your parents, your siblings, your best friends, or your romantic partner. Some of us have found ourselves far away from our loved ones during this pandemic, and others have found themselves cooped up in a space that is seemingly becoming increasingly smaller with other people amidst stay at home orders and advice from experts that recommend that we stay home. Both of these situations can be straining on our personal relationships if we don’t know how to handle this exceptional situation we currently find ourselves in.
A key factor in establishing a healthy, loving relationship with anyone in your life is remembering to treat the other person with the key characteristics of love and respect which include patience, kindness, selflessness, gentleness, and companionship. We need to remember to treat our loved ones with these guiding principles of love in the same way that we would like to be treated this way. Everyone is handling this situation in their own way and we cannot expect our loved ones to react to this straining situation just like we would. That’s why we must be patient with our loved ones and aim to treat them with understanding rather than judgment. We must be kind and gentle whether we find ourselves close to our loved ones or not because we never know what is truly going on in their hearts and at a time like this everyone deserves gentleness and support, even when they get on our nerves.
