To consider a relationship with somebody, you would really want to know how they respond to failure, challenge and disappointment, wouldn’t you? Because that’s what you’re going to be dealing with every day. Because otherwise, people meet and it’s all about looking good and trying to impress and trying to be what the other person wants and there’s no reality at all. And so we don’t…Nobody’s really being straight with each other.

In this August 2019 teaching on relationships, Marshall Vian Summers explains how to consider a relationship with another person.

To consider a relationship with somebody, you would really want to know how they respond to failure, challenge and disappointment, wouldn’t you? Because that’s what you’re going to be dealing with every day. Because otherwise, people meet and it’s all about looking good and trying to impress and trying to be what the other person wants and there’s no reality at all. And so we don’t…Nobody’s really being straight with each other.

Better to have written out on a sheet: This is who I am. This is what I believe. These are my strengths, my weaknesses, my tendencies. This is how I’ve dealt with failure, challenge and disappointments. “Here read it. See if we connect.”

No, but you see what I’m saying? It’s like, let’s get all the preamble out of this and just say, you know, kind of “This is where I’m at.” And, you know, “Do we connect? I mean, are we resonating or not resonating? Are we…?” And that honesty is beautiful. And, boy, it saves a lot of time. So take a moment and think about this.

It’s in two parts: first about understanding your own journey enough to know how Knowledge speaks to you. If you know how Knowledge speaks to you, then that’s probably how Knowledge is going to speak to you, whether in images, feelings, words, signs, upset stomach. I mean, what is it? How does Knowledge get your attention given your nature and your makeup? Are you auditory? Are you visual? Are you sensory? Are you kinetic? How does that work for you? So that’s the first part of the statement.

The second is about how you function facing failure, challenge and disappointment.