Whether it be with your spouse, children, family, work colleagues, friends, or just occasional acquaintances. All relationships take work.

During the course of our lives we are constantly being tried and tested through the relationships we form and the people we meet. Some unions are wanted – are sought out and yearned after. While others are forced upon you and test your overall being.

Relationships take work – home life can be stressful.

Your spouse is supposed to be your rock. You can pour out your soul and express the frustrations of your day and you want to be supported. But they had a bad day as well and they don’t want to listen to your problems on top of their own!

But marriage (legal, common-law, or otherwise) is hard. Most of the time you love this person beyond words and cannot imagine your life without them. And on occasion you want to throttle your life-partner with a rolling pin because they don’t pick up after themselves!

Trust, communication, child-rearing, finances, and all the bullshit that goes into a marriage is really tough! Let’s not forget about intimacy! Making time and taking the time to cuddle or smooch – let alone fuck – is really hard!

Date nights, family time, me time – are all important for keeping one’s sanity. But how does once balance home life? Better yet, how does one incorporate everything (work, family, sex, selflove, friends, etc) into their lives?

Related Post: Not a Social Butterfly

Relationships take work – friendships are necessary.

Friendships change throughout your life. Those you were close to in high school or college may not be relevant to who you are now. Friendships evolve as you grow and proceed through the different stages of life.

But friendships, like those special bonds with a spouse, take effort to maintain. You need to keep up with what’s happening in each other’s lives. Taking time to get together for lunch, or even coffee, to catch up on how the kids are doing, work struggles, and gossiping about the bitches you both loath (please forgive me, but we all do it!).

Our girlfriends (or bros!) keep us grounded, even more so than our significant others, and call us out on our bullshit. One can often share more with a close friend than we can with each other’s spouse or family because there is no judgement.

Relationships take work – work wives (or husbands) do exist.

Generally, one spends more time at work than they do at home. According to statistics, the average Canadian will spend approximately 1/3 of their lives at work. (Source)

When you really think about it, that’s a fuck of a lot of time! It’s no wonder one develops a “work wife” relationship with the folks we spend so much time with. Co-workers turn into true friends, as close as (or closer than), some family members.

Co-workers take on a fair few roles in one’s life: therapist, punching bag, parent, referee, and inspirational voice. However, these are the lucky few who we actually get along with.

Work situations, no matter what field you are in, often force interactions and relationships that you may not necessarily want. Unless you are self-employed or work from home you are conversing, collaborating, and sadly even talking to people you really otherwise wouldn’t be on a regular basis.

Often we have to bite our tongue, be the bigger person, or simply suck it up when it comes to certain interactions in the workplace. It’s understood that we are supposed to work while at work, but social interactions will inevitably happen.

Relationships take work – we only have one family.

Family closeness, generally, can range anywhere from see-each-other-every-single-minute to separate-us-by-a-continent and every measure in between.

Parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles can bring out the best in someone or make one want to commit a homicide. Family interactions, to some, are the relationships that can change so dramatically over time.

Ageing, growing, moving, kids, illness – whatever stage of life one is currently living can bring on so much pressure and anxiety. Unfortunately, family can make the burden and experience so much more stressful, whether they realize it or not.

As children reach adulthood and the role of parent and child is reversed, one’s true colours often reveal themselves. Folks can really see what others are made of when everyone involved is more mature (or not in some cases).

Time spent with one another is either more meaningful or a lot less frequent. Those family members who were once thought to be sincere and reputable, turn out to be a relationship best avoided.

No matter where you are in life, you will be engaged in relationships whether you choose to be or not. Take some initiative and nurture those that have meaning and respectfully ignore others. But always put the most important relationship first – with yourself.