December 18, 2024

How Missouri's State Slogan Can Identify Your Healthy and Harmful Relationships

We all have people in our lives that are absolutely essential. They are necessary for us to have joy and happiness. You might have a friend who makes you laugh until you can hardly breathe. She's so fun to be around. Her sense of humor is perfectly tailored for your enjoyment, and you couldn't imagine a world without her.

Now let's take a minute to imagine the opposite scenario.

Do you, unfortunately, have someone in your life who always brings you down? A cloud of negative energy moves through the room when they are with you and your friends. This person is your friend and has been for many years.

He has some positive traits and has helped you in different areas of your life. But most of his energy is negative, and you're starting to realize that there aren't too many positives you take away from your relationship with him.

Good and bad are everywhere. There's always going to be a down that makes the up wonderful. Sometimes you realize happiness and joy because you've experienced sadness and sorrow.

The same is true with relationships. They can be healthy or harmful. In many cases, the same person can deliver negative and positive experiences. How do you make the hard choices and look at the relationships in your life?

Who should you be spending less time with or no time at all? What people improve your life in some way, either giving you the gift of great emotions or in some other way help you to achieve an important goal?

Missouri's State slogan can help you make those difficult decisions.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Missouri is known as the "Show Me" state. That slogan is not officially embraced by the Missouri government. However, it has been commonly used since Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver declared at a naval banquet in 1899 that you had to show rather than tell him to convince him about anything.

During a speech he was giving, he said, "I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." And Missouri has been known as the "Show Me" state ever since.

Think about this when you're reviewing the relationships in your life. If you ask someone important to you if they value the relationship, they will say yes. They might actually want you in their life. You could be a source of great happiness for them.

Even so, they might be so toxic that you'd be better off spending less time with them. In other words, even though they talk a good game, they haven't shown you by their actions that you're important to them.

People will show you their true beliefs and intentions through actions, not words. If certain relationships in your life aren't healthy, helpful, and filled with happiness, you need to consider taking time to repair them or end them altogether.

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If you liked this article, check out my Substack Newsletter piece entitled, "Balanced Ambition" at: https://theunreliablemind.substack.com/p/balanced-ambition