We are like stones in a stream. The edges we have either get rubbed away or chiseled deeper by those we come in contact with over the course of our lives. The individuals we choose to spend most of our lives with tend to be those that we take habits and feelings from. We rub off on them just as much as they rub off on us.
Here is an observation. Select a couple that you have known for a while. The next time you see them, note the similarities between their thoughts, likes and dislikes. Note their mannerisms. You may even select a couple where one half has departed or is no longer part of the relationship. Note how the second half behaves similarly to the first half.
Chances are that you will find shared similarities in each person; where one has picked up something from the other, and vice versa.
It seems impossible to avoid the influence from your other half. It could be a mutual like, dislike, or even a mannerism like shaking hands a particular way that rubs off to become a part of your own persona.
I have two friends that share a marriage together. When the saying opposites attract was coined, it could have been these two that it originated from. When they first met, one half rarely smiled during a photo. The other half always smiled. Today when a photo is being taken of either, you are sure to find a smile on both of their faces one hundred percent of the time.
Time, of course, is the ultimate arbiter in this matter. It dictates the extent to which each individual affects the other. We can have short relationships and we can have long relationships. It’s the long relationships that seem to have the inveteracy on our dispositions, changing our manners and shaping our beliefs.
The currents of our lives move at various speeds and take numerous paths to the sea, but as stones we certainly share the habit of building relationships (be them short or long). And we know, that quality and length shape us the best in this stream. The current may be strong and it may be tough, but it can change us. We only need to recognize the change that benefits and the change that does not.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2009
