Independence and the Search for a Partner

Today is July 4th, Independence Day, and it has got me thinking about the importance of our personal independence as we search and seek to fill our lives with more love and deepen our relationships. There are many people out there that may feel like "independence" and "relationships" are mutually exclusive. I beg to differ. The more independence and freedom we have the more likely we are to explore and express who we truly are. The more we exude our true selves the more likely we are to attract people who will either support us or challenge us to further evolve as individuals. All this individuality and strengthened sense of self will actually attract love and community... and relationships. In a healthy relationship, there are three entities: each partner and the relationship itself. Each partner is responsible for themselves and for working on themselves in order to strengthen the relationship. If both partners are committed to self-growth then they are each doing their part to help the relationship grow and deepen.

As long as we keep our heart open and let our fears fall to the side we will be able to acknowledge how both independence and relationships can exist simultaneously (and how they can actually reinforce each other). We must have personal independence in order to make a relationship stronger and we must have relationships in order to push us to grow as individuals!

Kahlil Gibran said it best:

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.