“Companion” because I think and I believe that as we walk and live in this world relationship or social relationship are inevitable despite that we have a choice because we are not alone regardless of that we think we are as an individual, there is always someone out there, someone who helps you a companion to be with to get through life such as our family. 

"Communication" because I think a relationship is nothing and wouldn’t be consider as relationship as “relationship” without communication whether it is verbal or non-verbal there is always a connection or communication between both parties. It is the soul and foundation of any relationship. 

The words that come to my mind when I hear the word relationships or social relationships are "connections", "growth", and "effort". I believe that these three words represent the foundations of building and sustaining a relationship as well as benefitting from the relationship as well.

A relationship is a connection between two or more people that is maintained through continuous effort despite hardships and can be a source of positive growth for an individual by expanding one's reach and opening doors to new opportunities and experiences.

Acceptance is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the words relationship or social relationship. In my opinion, this word is one of the keys to a healthy and successful relationship.

Acceptance means embracing someone for who they are involved realizing that you will always disagree on not just one but many things, but here you are, accepting their imperfections and flaws, loving them for who they are on the inside, and patiently waiting for her to grow. When both of you finally respect and understand each other's ideas, opinions, intentions, and motivations, it means that you completely accept each other. As a result, you allow yourselves to learn more about one another.

Connection is linked with relationship because relationship is the connection between two or several people who are associated with one another. The connection is the bond that ties multiple people together to further strengthen the relationship. When we want to connect with someone, we seek similarities and understandings of each other on many levels: physical, intellectual, sexual, cultural, spiritual and emotional. I define connection as the energy that occurs between individuals when they feel seen, heard, and respected, and when the relationship provides them with sustenance and strength. Therefore, in social relationships, I believe that the relationship will not be gone as long as the connection stays together.

Additionally, communication is also tied with the word relationship since it is a necessary element to a healthy relationship. In relationships, communication allows you to explain to someone else what you are experiencing and what your needs are. The act of communicating not only helps to meet your needs, but it also helps you to be connected in your relationship. 

Relationships require a whole lot of give and take. We become more selfless and tend to give up what we value for them, whether it may be our time, our energy or even money. When we look back at the things we did for our loved ones, as well as what they did for us, only then would we realize the dedication we have for one another. 

The first word/s that cross atop of my mind when I hear the word/s Relationships or Social Relationships is “Web of mutuality” and “Sense of belongingness” as these words seemingly fit into the definition of relationship and social relationships.

As I see it, relationship and social relationship both meant being enthralled into a “web of mutuality”, a network of common experiences and grounds that let mere bonds turn into meaningful relationships. Every other relationship always sprout from a commonality until such time we delve deep into each other, we get engrossed to each other’s connection and consequently built a grid of interconnections not just inclusive of the people between the relationship but across to the many individuals each party is connected to—where we begin to develop such beautiful and intricate alliances with each other.

I also associate relationship and social relationship to “sense of belongingness” for being involve in a relationship whether in platonic, quixotic or romantic means, secures an individual the sense of belonging; of acceptance and inclusivity to be part of a welcoming cluster or by a significant other.  And quite frankly, sense of belongingness will always be one of the gratifying rewards of being in relationship that fills our benevolent needs as an emotion-filled individuals.

I have quoted a favorite line of mine from a book. This is how I distinguish social relationships from the rest of the people. Despite the numerous amount of population, it is only through bonds that makes two people form a relationship. There is a common denominator between people which forms bonds that will transcend a lifetime. No matter where we go, some people would come off as unique to us unlike any other because of the emotions and time we have shared. People would be merely strangers unless we go out of our way to communicate, respect, and enjoy each other’s company. This is why bonds are crucial in establishing social relationships among the crowd.

 

I believe that relationships always start with a connection, may it be from a common group of friends, family, or interests. Relationship finds a way to bond us even from our diverse background, age, gender, or distance. We tend to find that "click" or that certain similarity that we have with other people which connects us with them. And as we connect, we gain a companion, the people we can be accountable to or the ones who we can call friends. But staying in a relationship is always a choice. It is always our decision if we will continue to build that relationship, our choice to open ourselves and invest our time and efforts. My favorite part of a relationship is we find our constant people, the ones we want to spend our life energy with for the rest of our lives that make our time in this world worth it. 

In my perspective, one should first express their sincerity, not just through words but also through actions. We are happier when we do things with sincerity since we are not forced to do something against our will. Sincerity, of course, should be accompanied by consistency. Being sincere solely at the beginning is just a waste of time and effort. We should remain consistent with our goals and try to finish what we have started instead of doing multiple starting points. A sincere and consistent individual would make someone feel at peace and secure, which is where contentment comes in. Being content with what we have prevents us from being disappointed by our own expectations. Once we have the feeling of contentment, comes faithfulness. To be contented does not imply that we should have no expectations, but rather that we should be patient with the blessings that are yet to come. We, as a society, should have faith in one another because we were all created in His image.

 

I have always thought that relationships are built and maintained by certain factors, and the words mentioned above are some of the most important ones. First is “respect”, a word which means to give love and let the other person have the space to become who they want, feel how they want and voice out their outlook and most importantly to recognize their viewpoints, thoughts, and emotions. With this factor, it will enable each of you to show that you love one another. Respect in a relationship is equivalent to appreciation. No matter the differences, you accept their imperfections. The second word is bond, which is a strong feeling of friendship, love, or shared beliefs and experiences that lets you unite with other people. No relationships would work if there is no presence of bond. One way to create a bond with another person is to spend quality time with them and get to know them, but also keeping in mind that there should be boundaries set. The last word is trust, the foundation for any kind of relationship. Trust provides reassurance, which will help you and the person you are in a relationship with (friend, family or lover) to keep each other despite of the fights that will come. It will help both of you to overcome any hindrances, because you know you have each other to rely on 

FRIOLO, Ariane Nicole G.
OD3A
COSH12

A relationship is a “commitment” and it applies not only to couples in a relationship, but to all persons with whom we have a relationship, which includes those all around us such as our family and friends. In a relationship, commitment entails keeping your word in both small and big things. Even when it's difficult or when you don't want to. You must take seriously your commitment to be someone's person, to be present and show up in their lives. When people are committed, you became aware of your emotion and the emotions of others. This makes room for change and “growth”, people often feel successful with what they do and they strive towards something much greater. A relationship can grow if the persons involved learn to communicate, look after one another, and most importantly, understand themselves.

            Commitment and Understanding are two of the most significant factors that aid in cultivating and maintaining relationships or social relationships since it entails a myriad of benefits that leads and guides our individual selves towards the paramount of growth. One of the values that underpin strong and meaningful relationships is commitment. People who can uphold strong relationships have a high degree of emotional intelligence and are more inclined to stick to their commitments. This is because emotional competence is considered necessary to sacrifice time, exert considerable self-discipline, and exert significant effort. People who value commitments excel at relationship management, specifically in the realm of interpersonal effectiveness, resolution of conflicts, bonding, trust, teamwork, and collaborative effort. Understanding other people allows us, as social beings, to see and understand situations from various perspectives. In this sense, it supports the processes involved in developing empathy as well as the value systems that humans possess. Moreover, understanding is the main tool to cultivate, build and have open social relationships. 

With that being said, commitment and understanding are two of the crucial factors that will give us a sense of belonging, purpose, and support, and, as a consequence, they help us live longer and healthier lives when utilized in a healthy manner. 

To have a healthy relationship good communication with each other is important. It allows you to share feelings, opinions, let your partner what your needs are, and it also helps you to become more connected with your partner. With the help of communication both of you can prevent misunderstandings that may happen and to understand both of your feelings. 

Understanding is also important in a relationship. It allows you and your partner to learn each other on how will they react in different situations that may happen. It also helps to make your relationship last long because you respect what they want to do or the thoughts they share to you. By understanding them you also accept them for who your partner is, and it can strengthen your relationship.

On the other hand, being understanding is also one of the factors to achieve a harmonious relationship. Since we all have different perspectives and personalities, it is difficult to avoid misunderstandings and disagreement. Understanding someone allows us to embrace not just their positive qualities, but also their imperfections.  It is also about learning to empathize with someone else’s situation. Love is not enough to sustain relationships; it requires deep understanding in many aspects.

 

Relationships start from somewhere. It may be sparked by the simple exchange of smiles and stares, the exchange of "hi" and "hello," or the exchange of stories to share. Then, to continue what has been started, it takes time and effort to have numerous interactions and conversations in order to build the unique bond and connection towards each other until you feel each other’s empathy, love, trust, and sincerity, which shows how genuine the connection is. The connection that will accept you for who you are, the connection that can assure you that they will always be there for you no matter what, the connection that supports you but will also be honest with you and tell you when you are wrong. With that, a social relationship, whether romantic or platonic, starts with an exchange of something and consequently grows with an exchange of something, as a healthy relationship works by both parties being able to give and receive something with no counting or comparing their efforts.

The broad diversity and differences of billions of people makes relationships hard to maintain. I personally believe that humans have the same ground in every aspect of life, but most of us fail to find this ground because some are close minded, ignorant, and just simply toxic. However, harmony and understanding is human nature. That’s why most of the time we find companions that have the same advocacies as ourselves. Understanding is very crucial in every relationship. 

Misunderstanding and different views are inevitable in all relationships, however if you understand each other, you are more than capable of changing each other’s view with an open mind. Each one has their own principles and it is important in relationships since it determines your standing in life. 

(1) Love. Love is broad, but I thought of this word because generally, it is one of the biggest factors that fuel and determine relationships, may it be platonic or not.
(2) Mutuality. It immediately came into my mind that in social relationships, mutuality is present. It is the sharing of a feeling, action, or relationship between two or more parties.
(3) Connections. Relationships are formed through connections, by emotional bonds and/or just merely from our interactions in our daily lives. 

There are a lot of words I can think of that are associated to social relationships, but the three words above were the first that came to mind.

I always believe that respect is one of the most important things we could earn and give in a relationship. It includes accepting the differences between you and the other party. With that, you will be able to build trust and good communication over time. Good communication with the people you are in a relationship with is another essential aspect where you share feelings, ideas, experiences, and perspectives, that could help you connect with them, prevent conflicts and misunderstandings between the two parties, and build a healthier partnership/relationship. A healthy relationship encourages you to grow. As for the growth in a relationship, it is significant, for it will lead you to make a better understanding of certain things and improve the way you manage life situations.

Though there are a lot of people we encounter, converse and stick around with, there are only chosen who you can connect with. Chosen are those people who stick with you no matter what happens, understands and communicates with you no matter how far they are, and whom you can trust. These connections are what help a person understand themselves and others better, and drive them to develop into better individuals.

Connection- Just like purpose, connection in relationships vary. There are people we have strong and deep connections with and there are people we have small connections with and we call them acquaintances. We talk, care, interact with them but not as much as people we have deep connection with. 

Interaction- Relationships or social relationships are built upon interaction. Some relationship require more than but all of them start and continue through interaction 

Community- community is the benefit of social connection. Because of the relationship you built you will find your people and place.

Compatibility- relationships outside yourself  involve different people. It does not matter how similar or difference you are with them what's important is you are willing to tolerate them and vice versa to have compatibility. Compatibility is one of the few factors to have deep connection with people around you and be a better person. Through compatibility you will find your people, people you are comfortable expressing your self with. 

I believe that good communication is the key factor in forming and maintaining a healthy relationship. It allows us to explain to someone else what our feelings, experiences, opinions and needs are. The act of communicating not only helps to meet our needs, but it also helps us to be connected in our relationship. This will help us to avoid arguments and understand each other. Relationships with lack of communication tend to fail.

While communicating, the trust for each other is starting to build up. Trust is the foundation of relationships among individuals, groups, and other components of a society. It makes our relationships to maintain peaceful and stable social relations that are the basis for collective behavior and productive cooperation. Without trust in others’ actions and decisions, we may have to consider too many contingencies and uncertainties to take action, destroying the foundation of the relationship. 

Because of that, relationships will give us a sense of purpose. Supportive relationships help us to thrive in this context by enabling us to embrace and pursue opportunities that enhance positive well-being, broaden and build resources, and foster a sense of purpose and meaning in life. 

We are taught not just to love ourselves but to be kind to other people. Compassion is a very important component in building and sustaining relationships. Compassionate people know how to love others by being understanding, showing respect, and sympathizing with the people around them. Putting others first is the result of indulging compassion in our hearts. We do things for our loved ones because we do not want them to be hurt or harmed. Hence, social relationships involve service to the people we love. Offering your time and effort is the best way to show how much you care for them. Especially for partners or couples, ‘acts of service’ is one of the best love languages because it shows that a person truly means their love for you. 

Social relationships are vital for all of us. It can make or break us. Maintaining relationships may be difficult sometimes due to disagreements, but when both sides truly value your connection or bond, you will not break apart but will only get stronger through time. 

It is important in a relationship to know how to set healthy boundaries to keep us grounded and also know when to compromise to meet each other half way. 

Relationship involve individuals most of the time with different goal, priorities and/or schedule. Lack of boundaries could be exhausting and a relationship that does not know when to compromise most probably won't work in a long run. For us to keep that connection, we should know how to respect each other by setting healthy boundaries and compromising if you have to.

It is an element of every amazing entity and phenomenon in this world. An undeniable feeling that could lead to both good and bad things; good in a sense of comfort, familiarity, and growth, whilst bad in a sense of destruction in ways possible. Connection has a power similar to love, and this, I am confident to say. Being connected with both animate beings and inanimate things brings a certain emotion that varies from person to person. In addition, it is a choice to connect with someone, but not all the time since not all things are controlled by our hands. This is why I believe that connection is bestowed by fate and intentions.

Building relationships is being connected to and valued by other people. We make time to get to know them through mutual experiences, acknowledging differences, and trusting each other that we say what we mean, and we mean what we say. All relationships whether to our family, friends and a partner require effort to stay connected hence, we must always seek for common ground, we strive to understand each other, and value communication. With this, the connectedness we have built from other people is formed into comfort and growth.

Having a sense of connectedness becomes a comfort in uncomfortable places. A healthy social relationship is meant to be a comforting place where we are not only getting nourished, but we are also reciprocating the nourishment to them as well. This means that we become each other's support system, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, and be a source of encouragement to one another. The relationship we have built becomes a close tie and security that we have someone to count on, we can bring out the best of ourselves, and we grow from our learned mistakes and experiences. 

Growth widens our horizons for more experiences and favorable circumstances that come in our way. Also, different perspectives of people provide us with the opportunity to grow and learn from them that were primarily built through relationships. 

Vulnerability invites you to shed your masks and disguises, to surrender to whatever is real for you in the moment. It meets you right where you live, not where you or anyone else wants you to live. It’s the big sigh of relief that arises when you finally know that you don’t have to put on a show to feel seen or accepted. With vulnerability, everything that is essential in keeping a relationship follows, and I think an individual should practice being vulnerable because allowing yourself to care and be fragile means you are in the process of nurturing your relationship with yourself and to anyone collectively.

CALIWAG, Frances Tracey M.
OD3A