The Process of Maintaining A Relationship Despite The Forces Acting On It

MAINTAINING A RELATIONSHIP DESPITE THE FORCES ACTING ON IT
1.1 When I was in the army and living in England I used to go cycling with a friend after work. We’d often cycle one behind the other so that the person in back got to rest while the person in front did the work of blocking the wind. Because my friend was training to compete in triathlon’s I stayed in the back as often as possible, purely for his benefit.
1.2 Because I was in the back it was easy to speed up without any extra effort so I had to coast or if I did start to accelerate, then stick my head up into the wind to help me slow down so that I didn’t crash into my friend. Then, once I had matched speeds again I pulled my head back down into the draft.
1.3 When we were going straight and there was no wind then I’d position myself directly behind my partner for the best draught. If there was a wind blowing from the side then I would have to shift relative to my friend. We’d still be going straight ahead, but I’d be behind and slightly to the side, so that we were both pointing in the direction we were going but angled in line with the wind. We both had to lean to the side slightly to balance the push of the wind and keep on going straight.
1.4 Going around a bend something similar happened. We’d both lean inwards but to keep the draught the rider in the back, me again, would shift his line slightly outwards. If we were going around a bend to the left, I’d shift slightly to the right to stay in my friends slipstream.
1.5 Whether we were experiencing a side wind or going around a corner we maintained our relationship by lining up with the forces that acting on us. And if we slipped out of balance then the person behind would slow down or speed up until we were back in balance.
1.6 Balance, maintaining a relationship despite the forces that are acting on it. Balance, a process of maintaining the relationships we are in by monitoring the relationship and the forces acting on it and adjusting one or the other or both so that we continue to head in the direction we want to go.
1.7 It’s not that the relationship doesn’t change, it does, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot but the important thing is that the relationship is maintained. The idea is kept alive.