Willingness

One of the most important factors in any personal growth work is willingness. If you are on a path of self-discovery, it is of utmost importance that you be willing to look at yourself and to do whatever is required to grow out of habitual thoughts and actions.

This need for willingness extends into our relationships also. If we want to improve a relationship we have to be willing to work at it. To be willing means that we are ready, inclined, agreeable and disposed to do something. In the case of relationships, this means letting go of the past, really listening to the other, taking responsibility for our fifty percent, and being uncompromisingly honest, vulnerable, open and truthful.

It is all too easy to blame the other, see only his/her faults, hold on to grievances from the past and express hopelessness about the future. If you are doing that you are being a victim and you will not progress. A victim can’t grow because when everything is about the other person, you are helpless to change it. However, when it is about you, you have complete power and control over what you can and want to change.

Are you willing to risk it all for the sake of your relationship? Are you willing to take a good clear look at yourself and own up to what you see? Are you willing to give the other the opportunity to be heard and forgiven? Are you willing to respect the feelings, desires and needs of your partner? In other words, are you willing?