Develop Meaningful Relationships
Meaningful connection to others is often a key part of spiritual search and practice. Relationships offer deep insights and a way to practice spiritual beliefs.
How do relationships do this? Consider this example: Your teenager is late coming home with the family car that you need to get to an appointment. It may be very hard to practice the golden rule. You may only be able to think about how self-centered and irresponsible your teen is being and how angry you are. But if you stop to reflect on how you would want to be treated in his situation, you realize that you would want to be questioned calmly. Further, you see that you are only making the situation worse by blaming him without the facts, and that you could better spend the time relaxing with the paper while you wait.
With respect to physical health, relationships offer support that buffers the effects of stress and isolation. The health benefits of social support have been established in literally thousands of studies over the past 25 years (Levin, 2001).
