Balance in Relationships
Maintaining a healthy distance with people is important for your development and theirs.
The people that we surround ourselves with make us and break us. Even so, it also matters how close or how distant you are from people. Even the best of them. For our thinking and our perspectives to develop, it is important to maintain a balance.
Some of the greatest visionaries were also people who use to interact with many. This provided them with a rich source of perspectives. At the same time, they never took anything that anyone said as gospel truth. They would collect perspectives, process them and arrive at their own conclusions.
For a parent, it is natural to get extremely attached to their child. But it is also important to allow the child to face the world, make their mistakes, and learn from them. Getting too involved or excessively protective does not enable your child to develop good judgement. Which parent would not want their child to have sound judgement?
In this context, there are two adages that come to mind -
Distance makes the heart grow fonder (when you already know someone)
Distance also can make you often overlook faults and shortcomings. You need a healthy space but not so distant that you see them only through rose-tinted glasses or worse completely fall out.
Familiarity breeds contempt
Getting too close can mean that you know too much about someone. This can also make you doubt everything that they think or do. You know all the shortcomings too well. Also, at times you might become overbearing or vice versa.
This would apply to interactions with family, coworkers, associates, partners, and myriad others. Finding the right balance is the key. Don’t get too close or too far away.