Relationships are complicated. They require two people to come together, to accept each other, and to carry each other through the storm. This can be at the mercy of a million different factors, and experience teaches us that most relationships will not weather the storm. Yet despite this grim outlook, human beings still take great pains to connect with each other. Why? Because we are not simply who we are. We are who we are among others. The relationships that we care to develop are the ones that influence us, providing a mirror into our own lives and to the people we care about.

This quote stuck out to me because I have often found it difficult to connect with others seeing as I’m not very good at knowing what others think of me. Yet I continue to work at building relationships. Why? Because I am not simply who I am. I am who I am among others. The lives I have touched and those that have touched mine have strengthened me, and it is through these relationships with certain individuals that I can see things about myself I can’t see from my own perspective.