Four Cs Of Fantastic Relationships

What makes a great relationship? What are the ingredients for creating a happy, healthy, forever kind of partnership in life? I believe there are four necessities, things you must both provide in order to have a relationship that is as close to perfect as humans can make them.

I call those four necessities “Pillars of Perfection,” and these four pillars are the basic cornerstones underpinning every great, lasting relationship the world has ever known. What are they?

The First “C” is Caring: Both parties in a thriving relationship has to care – about themselves, yes, but most especially about each other and about the relationship as a third, separate entity.

Why? Because a person will tend to only work on things they truly care about. So the first pillar in a great relationship is caring.

The Second “C” is Commitment: You must be willing to commit to forever. This means, good or bad, heaven or hell, war and/or peace, you're willing to stand up and fight for what you care about, which is each other.

You must be dedicated to your relationship, to creating a life and lifestyle that suits you both and then doing whatever it takes to maintain it for the rest of your lives together. So commitment is the second pillar in a great relationship.

The Third “C” is Communication: Communication is our way of getting our own thoughts, hopes, fears, and ideas across to someone else. If we do not communicate, our partners have no way of knowing what we expect, what we want, need, desire, or crave from our relationships.

You must be willing and able to talk, to communicate openly and honestly about your expectations in order to maintain a happy, healthy, long-term relationship.

The Fourth “C” is Compromise: From the mouth of John Michael Montgomery, from the text of the Bible, and from the lips of just about every person in the world, in some form or the other, come these fateful words: You do have to give if you want to receive.

There is a give and take in any relationship. Problems start when one person does more giving than taking (or more taking than giving). To avoid this, you must be willing to compromise in order to create a harmonic balance in your relationship. That is why the fourth pillar of perfection in great relationships is compromise.

Think your relationship is lacking one or two of these pillars of perfection? There is no time better than now to begin work on constructing those pillars you feel your relationship lacks. Why now? Because tomorrow may be too late, and you would hate to miss out on being able to look back on 50, 60, 70 years or more of contented togetherness, wouldn't you?

I wouldn't be willing to trade that for anything in the world.

So forget about the work involved, and just be happy you are able to put in the time and effort now to ensure your relationship is one that will last, one that can stand the tests of time and endure forever.