Out of sixteen cardinal rules for demonstrating
value for any relationship, I discussed six in my last post, which was part-1
of this article. With your kind permission, may I now present the next four rules
as part-2 of this article.
Again, I would gently remind the readers
that by relationship, I mean any kind, not only the romantic
variety.
7. CRITICIZE NOT PERSONS DEAR TO THEM.
You may worship your maternal aunt, but
detest her husband, your uncle. There might be a dozen reasons for this, but
the rule to be kept in mind here is to maintain a stoic silence about it. Quite
possibly, you may not be able to enjoy your aunt’s company exclusively without
the detested guy barging in. But it is just one of the facts of life faced by
almost everyone in relationships.
If you try to cozy up to one avoiding
the other, it is going to become obvious to the concerned people quite soon.
This is going to strain your valued relationship with the aunty. It can get
much worse much faster if you express your dislike of this uncle.
8.GIFT THEM SOMETHING THEY LOVE.
No doubt, your first
thought is ‘What’s so great about this point?’
It is not always as
easy as it appears. If you read again carefully, I said ‘Gift them something they love.’
Now if you pause awhile
to analyze the type of gifts you have been receiving on various
occasions, you will realize the importance of this point.
Most
gifts are given by way of just a social gesture and not with application of any
serious forethought. I said most because there are exceptions
where the gift giver applies her mind awhile to see what would be most useful
and liked by the recipient. Others just see whether the gift is appropriate to
the occasion.
So, if you value this relation,
wouldn’t you agree that you should do a little thinking and gift them something
they would love to have.
9.LIKE THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
Now this one is so
obviously easy and doesn’t really need elaboration. If your people are on any
social media, they would really appreciate a simple recognition on their
timeline.
10.NEVER GIVE
UNSOLICITED ADVICE.
Our nature is such that we try to give quick
fix solutions to the problems posed to us by people close to us, with the best
of intentions. Sadly, we don’t realize that more often than not, the person is
just looking for a shoulder to cry on. What we offer as solutions are, except
in rare cases, very common sense solutions, like ‘Take her to a specialist… get
a second opinion…’and so on.
The downside of such uncalled for advice- if pursued
too vigorously-is that friction is likely to develop, especially when the
advice is unheeded or ignored. The other party also might start nursing
resentment over this unwarranted intrusion.
Hence, it is always prudent to ask first
whether any kind of help is required.