The saying that “people perish without a vision” applies to businesses and relationships. One of the visible forms of vision is a mission statement. One of the reasons businesses post mission statements where they can be seen is to remind the employees and customers what they are there for. Such statements help maintain focus.
In our series of the requirements of relationships, the third basic requirement of relationships is faith. Faith involves the mission statement of the relationship. Whether it is written down or not, every relationship operates according to a mission statement. In order to modify the mission statement, one first has to identify what the mission statement is. Mission statements often contain how people will be treated and what the goal of the company is.
Uncovering the mission statement of your relationship entails observing how you interact with your partner, and what you actually do. People commonly look at their relationships through a template that adds meaning and interpretation. Those templates also act as blinders that interfere with observing what is actually going on.
Consider how conflicts are dealt with. Are they generally resolved? What are the patterns as to how they are resolved? How do conflicts begin? What are the objects of conflict? How do they end? What threats are made? How do the two of you talk to or refer to each other? Answering such questions provides clues as to what your relationship mission statement is regarding ‘customer service’. There are often discrepancies between how you thought things were going with your spouse and what is actually going on, much like there are often differences between what the intent of a business mission is and what actually occurs. Another area where there may be problems is if there are differences between what you say and what you do. If you tell your partner they are they are the love of your life and then you talk to them harshly or ignore them during conflicts there are discrepancies.
