Sustainable Relationships

Sustainable: able to be sustained; able to be sustained for an indefinite period without damaging the environment, or without depleting a resource; renewable

Sustainability is quite the buzz word these days. It’s not at all a new concept. E.F. Schumacher wrote Small is Beautiful, his theory of economics as if people mattered, in 1973. I read it in 1983 and it is still quoted today in terms of sustainable business practices and economic principles. Long before that, in the 1930s, sustainable agriculture practices were introduced by the Farm Security Administration and other government programs as part of the New Deal. It took a dust bowl to make it clear that top soil can’t be abused.
So what moments of clarity do we need to make it clear that relationships must be nurtured with the same care we want to convey to our environment?

I think long term friendships are an amazing blessing. There is a deep and abiding reassurance that comes from the relationships that truly sustain us. Those who love us…sometimes in spite of ourselves.

This is what Max Ehrmann wrote in Desiderata about that kind of love…
“…Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity an disenchantment, is perennial as the grass.”

How do we nurture sustainable relationships? What are the elements that make them work? How does a business build sustainable relationships?

Well, if we look at the wiktionary definition above, I think of
Trust.

the next thought that comes to mind is
do no harm.

The second is,
harm happens.

Which leads me to the blessing of resources that are
renewable

which happens in relationships when we practice
forgiveness.

I could write about this all day, but I’d love to know what you think makes a relationship sustainable. Please share!

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