Identifying and Using Resources for Success
Any problem can be resolved if enough effort is put into finding a solution while adhering to a leveled approach, which does not needlessly sacrifice the participants’ comfort. Having a firm understanding of conflict resolution and communication may help any person better themselves, allowing them to find points of contact in any situation. While this is not necessarily a skillset, I consider these two abilities, along with a coherent understanding of what to expect from different associations, essential prerequisites for the growth of my personal relationships.
The assets that I bring with me to this course and implement throughout my life are conflict resolution, communication skills, and an understanding of friendship, intimacy, and singlehood. The AWARE pre-test results support this self-analysis, indicating that these three aspects are areas of strength, rather than potential growth. A firm grasp on finding lines of communication and the ability to look for answers to complicated situations helps strengthen people’s relationships through compassion and understanding (Olson, DeFrain, & Skogrand, 2019).
If 78% of happy couples defend the idea that their partner understands them even during disagreements, as opposed to 20% of unhappy couples, then empathy becomes a crucial aspect of relationships (Olson et al., 2019, p. 130). Thus, I expect my understanding of how to achieve and uphold compromise, as well as the existing, realistic approach to intimacy, to help me attain better intrapersonal results throughout the course.
The three outlined skills may be effectively interlinked together to create a better approach to relationships overall, not only private ones. Factors that characterize good relationships are “cooperation, love, intimacy, and stability for children” (Cohen, 2018, p. 62).
While this is a romantic-dominated approach to relationships, un-acknowledging of other varieties of connections between people, the placement of cooperation at the beginning of the list indicates that coming to a joint resolution trumps emotion. As an example, if during the course there is a conflict between me and anyone else, even myself, I am sure that finding a solution will be feasible and certainly better both our circumstances. This result will be due to my ability to find common ground with my partner and work together with their strong character points to find a satisfactory outcome for us.
My ability for negotiation, active listening, and compromise, as outlined by the AWARE pre-test results, are areas of strength. When linked together, all three could allow achieving a better result than the sum of their parts. I hope that my high-scoring results on the communication and conflict resolution scales, as well as the love, friendship, and intimacy one, retain the value that I see in them as helpful interpersonal tools.
Preparing for Challenges
Not many young adults may consider getting old a serious topic, while others, on the other hand, could dread it and all things associated with it, such as old age, settling down, and marriage. Judging by Olson et al.’s (2019) book, getting married is a topic that intertwines with many other types of relationships, often becoming their result. Therefore, understanding the connotations of commitment and mid-life maintenance of a relationship with my significant other is an essential conversation that I must have with myself.
Knowing myself now and recognizing that I am a young adult inexperienced with serious relationships, I think that my first problem will rise when my partner and I would have to live together. The second is all the factors that come along with aging and becoming an older couple, as I do not think I am ready to deal with it psychologically, let alone in my relationships. Additionally, stemming out of these two potential issues is the lack of practice in strengthening marriages and the inter-familial relationships that accompany them.
Rectifying these problems is a matter of me being honest with myself and working to resolve them. Using chapters 10, 13, and 16 from the book by Olson et al. (2019) I hope to learn more about my relationships and become more comfortable with the idea of their circumstances changing naturally. Chapter 10’s section “Living together” should help me create a support structure for better cohabitation, going into this decision with a sense of purpose and confidence (Olson et al., 2019, p. 283-286).
Chapter 13 and the section “Conventional wisdom about old age” may help me become more comfortable with the idea of growing older by demonstrating it as a natural change, rather than a forced one (Olson et al., 2019, p. 366-370). Finally, “Global perspectives on family, community, and cultural strengths” in Chapter 16 can help me find stability in already existing frameworks that support marriages worldwide (Olson et al., 2019, p. 464-471). I hope that these outlined cornerstones will better my understanding of life and its relationships.
The later stages of relationships, characterized by marriage, as well as living and growing old together, are my weaknesses. While I am confident in my advantages, working on what the AWARE pre-test results call possible strengths is my main goal. I hope that by the end of this course, I will feel more comfortable with the connotations of growing older and maintaining a relationship with my significant other.
References
Cohen, P. N. (2018). Enduring bonds: Inequality, marriage, parenting, and everything else that makes families great and terrible. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
Olson, D. H. L., DeFrain, J. D., & Skogrand, L. (2019). Marriage and families: Intimacy, diversity, and strengths (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.