HW 52

My ideas on human relationships is that we usually have a closer relationship with our family than with our friends. This is because our family will always love us unconditionally and we love them unconditionally back and they know us the best because they helped raise us. We can make mistakes and they'll still have our back. Parents can be good to get advice and such from because they already went through some things and can help you but at the same time, they can still never let you live something down. But at the same time, it's hard to relate to our parents now and they ultimately have control over us until we are 18. I think it's sad when parents and children have a volatile relationship with one another because we are supposed to learn from our parents and hopefully be taught the right example from them and if there's a bad relationship going on, it will be very difficult for the child to learn how to act and in the worst case, live a good life.

I think that relationships with friends are also very important because they are usually the family we get to choose. We choose friends based on what we have in common with each other and our likes and dislikes. Trust is also a big thing because we want to know that our friends won't judge us, be able to keep something private, and won't be mean. Friends are obviously our age and know exactly what we are going through because it is probably happening to them also and parents can punish you for certain things whereas friends will not. If you have a bad friend (someone who is mean and does conniving things), it will be easier to dispose of them and not talk to them again, unless you have been friends with them for many years but in general, it is hard to dispose of friends, for me at least, unless they did something terrible to hurt me. But the main difference between friends and family is that I don't think that friendship guarentees unconditional love. Of course friends are like family and there will no doubt be times when there are fights but like family, you always get out of it and that's the sign of a true friend. But a friend gets to choose you and they aren't "yours" like your family is so if someone does something horrific to a friend like steal a boyfriend or spread lies, you will obviously not be liked by the other person at all. They most likely didn't grow up with you so they can just decide not to be friends with you if they want.

Relationships with a significant other is also very important. Again, just like with friends, a significant other is someone who you want to hang out with and be intimate with and who is generally "another version of you" in some cases. In general, couples teach each other things and balance each other out. For example, if there was a couple and 1 person was shy and the other outgoing, the difference in that is good because they aren't alike and one can relax the other or pump up the other. It is important to have some relationships because (not to be cliched) but love is a good feeling and you can confide more in the person once you get to know them very well. That being said, as important as significant other relationships are, you can't depend on that for happiness because you can't live for another person and base your life around the person.