5 Love Lessons From Olympic Athletes

Here is a secret not often told: everyone struggles with their relationships. Even the most secure couples have times when they bump into each other and are annoyed.

We have been conditioned in our culture to be fiercely independent. People are rewarded for hard work by getting more pay, the promotion or esteem from others. Why Katie Holmes Secretly Filed For Divorce

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To show weakness, admitting we can't do it all, is to admit we are needy and pathetic. The media pummels us with messages to be thin, fit, social, perfect, independent and not to depend on anyone else.

We are told to pull our-selves up by the boot straps. Even when surrounded by friends we feel alone in our struggle, thinking that relationships come easy for everyone else. The end result of this fierce independence, if we are honest, loneliness and shame. 22 Ways Couples Can Overcome Infidelity

Human beings were created to live in packs or tribes. From the earliest stories of cavemen, primitive cultures and current, rural third world tribes, humans have lived in small communities, interdependent with each person in the tribe.

The tribe only did as well as each person gave to the community. We have been and always will be social animals. In tribes, the elderly provided wisdom from their years of life, men would hunt for meat and women and children would gather fruits and vegetables and care for the young. They all relied on each other to survive.

Let's learn from the Olympic athletes what it takes to win a gold medal. These five skills provide a way to strive for first place in your relationships:

 1. Go for the gold. Olympic athletes have a goal in mind, being the best they can be and winning the gold. In relationships, we can choose to be the best we can be and win the gold, too.

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What the gold looks like is up to you to define. If we look at social structures from human beginnings, interdependence was necessary. In a relationship, this means both partners are not just surviving, but are actually thriving in the relationship. The relationship is value added for both partners. "The Dark Night Rises": Helping Us All To Heal [EXPERT]

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