Page 48 - Vision Manual

should share this information. The point is to share in a way that allows the other person to respond and absorb what you are sharing.
 Include Positive Interactions
Once you get to know someone you will probably feel more comfortable expressing frustrations and concerns, and talking about day to day struggles. It’s natural and healthy to get support from relationships. While supportive relationships are good, it’s important to make sure that we aren’t just using people for support. Positive interactions are ones that allow for laughter, smiles and fun. If you find yourself using a friend or relationship for support quite a bit, remember to mix things up and have a good time with them!
 Communicate when things aren’t feeling right
It’s natural that we might feel frustrated or confused in a relationship. Sometimes people bottle things up when they are building a relationship because they are afraid that they are going to be rejected or damage the friendship. The truth is that if you want to build a healthy relationship sometimes we have to talk about what isn’t working. If a friend says or does something that you are uncomfortable with, see if there is a way to bring it up in a gentle, clear manner. If needed, refer to the section “Being Assertive and Resolving Conflict” to help communicate and try to resolve the frustration. Resist the urge to terminate a relationship just because of one instance of frustration or hurt feelings.
Questions: What challenges are there to building relationships? What suggestions above seem difficult? What could you add to this list?
Keeping Relationships Healthy
Once you’ve built a relationship with someone and feel comfortable in it, there are some important things to remember that will help you keep the relationship healthy. These can include some of the things discussed above such as attending to the relationship regularly, communicating when things are off, and making sure there are positive things in the relationship. There are other strategies that can help keep relationships healthy, and some of them are discussed here:
 Develop other relationships and groups
Building relationships is hard work, and it can be tempting to stop once you’ve found someone or a few people that you trust. A healthy relationship is one where no one person is overly reliant on another. While it takes work, try to build more than one relationship. Sometimes the people we would like to rely on won’t be available, and so building multiple relationships helps us
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