AT THE FEET OF THE MOTHER
Ask Alok da

I feel very insecure in relationships and friendships. I have a strong need to know every detail about my partner and friends—their actions, decisions, and daily activities. If they don’t share things with me, I tend to fight. I also get jealous when they talk to others. I struggle to understand their need for privacy. I want to learn how to deal with these insecurities and build healthier relationships🙄.

Insecurity in relationship arises if there is a certain degree of emotional dependency upon the friend or partner. There is a fear of losing the friendship and hence the mind tries to possess the person. This possessiveness leads next to a wish to control which obviously becomes counterproductive.

What one needs to understand is that, first and foremost this world is deeply interconnected and hence an exclusive friendship with one person is a near impossibility unless one lives in a place where there are no means of contact with anyone else. Secondly, an individualized person, especially strong personalities need space to navigate their life and do not like to be controlled by anyone. It is natural that if everything is shared the partner will have his or her views and a natural tendency to advice or comment on the choices one makes. This evidently creates friction because it is very unlikely that two people will think, feel, act in the same way. Even if there are affinities in certain areas, there is likely to be dissonances in other areas, especially if the personality is complex. Therefore sharing everything, idealistic though it sounds, leads often to misunderstandings. It is this subtle truth of human psychology that has inspired the Shakesperean adage ‘too much closeness breeds contempt’ and the sage advice of the Lebanese mystic ‘let there be spaces in your togetherness ‘.

In fact just as two trees growing too close may hamper each other’s growth so too an excessive closeness leads to a stunting of natural growth in another. It is only when two persons have develooed completely, grown to full maturity that they can share everything and laugh together freely without fear of being judged or criticised. That is very rare. Hence it is best not to insist on sharing everything if you want the friendship to remain healthy and last long.

Share this…

Related Posts

Pranam Sir. I want to ask about how to deal with negative anticipations, thoughts, and expectations in our daily life. One of my colleagues always targeting me and quarreling with me over each minor issue or mistake and even insults me in front of juniors. He is visually challenged. 🌿🕊️[…]

The best way is to completely ignore him, and if you cannot do so then remain inwardly totally indifferent to him. The best response to people who are hypercritical is complete indifference. The more you try to explain, the more they justify. The more you concede, the more they increase the criticism. But indifference completely flattens them…

Read More >

What does the chant “OM SHANTI” truly signify—is peace merely the repetition of a sacred word, or a state to be deeply imbibed within the heart? We often define peace simply as the absence of external conflict, agitation, or turbulence, but this surface calmness is only temporary and amounts to nothing more than restraining turbulent emotions. What, then, constitutes real, unshakable inner peace, and how can one truly attain and sustain it? 🕉️🕊️

Peace is not an absence of disturbance. Even inertia is free from disturbance. Peace is something positive and powerful, a fundamental foundational status of the Divine, seemingly equal and non-reactive like Shiva bearing and upholding the dance of Kali upon his chest or the ocean holding its tremendous energy by its own power of self-limitation. maryada. It is a state of concentrated ingatheredness like the mountains or a vast Silence …

Read More >

My sister is pregnant and has entered her ninth month. Because she has a low-lying placenta, the doctor has recommended a C-section and suggested dates around August 14th or 15th. When I learned about the dates, I suggested August 15th because it is Sri Aurobindo’s birthday. 👶🗓️[…]

Trying to find an auspicious date, hoping for a better future through the limited means given to man, stepping back from the first impulse and making rational choices are all part of human nature and hence natural. Medicine itself as well as technology and all else invented by the human mind is also natural in the sense that it is an extension of our mind that is given to us by Nature. Animal is driven by vital nature whereas man makes choices …

Read More >