The journey of Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner 1979, is an inspiring story of courage, conviction and compassion in human relationships. Glad to take a look at her philosophy and teachings to find the essence of a healthy relationship.
Mother Teresa, recognized by Roman Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, is the pole star of humanity and her life’s journey is a source of great inspiration for everyone. We explore the lessons embedded in the benevolent humanitarian services and teachings of this messiah of love and compassion. Here we dwell upon few life-transforming lessons that we believe everybody can imbibe in letter and spirit in their lives to nurture healthy relationships.
- Enjoy the Joy of Giving
Before turning into a social worker, Mother Teresa had a successful teaching career spanning 20 years at the Loreto Convent School in Entally, Eastern Calcutta, and she was appointed Headmistress in 1944. But the Bengal famine of 1943 jolted her from the core, which she described as “the call within the call”. Soon, she left the comforts of convent and started living with the affected people, the underprivileged and the homeless, to serve and comfort them.
What brought about the transformation? She perceived her happiness in the happiness of others, and aligned her life’s goals in serving the dying and the destitute people, and bringing the smile back on the faces of the downtrodden.
In a relationship too, when you put aside your own interests for the happiness of your partner, you enjoy the joy of giving. This will make your relationship harmonious and bring you closer to each other.
- Be Faithful to Yourself and Others
“Faith can move mountains”. When Mother Teresa decided to enter the world of charity on 10 September 1946, she did not have a big fund, nor were there many followers or government aids. All that she possessed was intense faith in her action and the Almighty, and the rest is history.
In a relationship, you come across positive and not-so-positive situations. In challenging situations, it is the faith that you have in yourself, and in your partner that helps you to steer clear of the challenges.
So what is faith? It is an inner confidence that makes you believe in yourself and your partner and this trust factor cements the relationship further.
- Love Each Other, Love Christ
In her Nobel Lecture delivered on 11 December, 1979, Mother Teresa said, “I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives in the heart of the world. For, we are touching the Body of Christ 24 hours.”
She asserted that all evils can be overpowered, and joy and peace can be achieved this way anywhere – in the family, in the society, and in the world.
She saw Jesus in every being and gave unconditional love. When you love your partner unconditionally, you will find that you do not need any external causes to sweeten your relationship. Unconditional love helps you to erode the grudges gradually.
- Judge Less Love More
If you judge people you have no time to love them. The life of Mother Teresa is a living testimony of what she said. No one in the world is free from some or the other evil – and if you go on finding mistakes with others, you will only develop animus and hatred against them.
The same is applicable in a relationship. Leave the task of judging your partner to the Creator. Notice the positive things about your partner and appreciate those. When you become judgemental at core, you tend to ignore even the good qualities of a person. Be less judgemental and more loving.
- Respect Your Partner
Mother Teresa has become a synonym of love and compassion. Her philosophy and mission rose from her own deep-rooted humility and respect for all living creatures. Respect and love are the two facets of the same coin. Remember, unconditional love cannot happen without being humble and respectful to others.
Respect is like the Newton’s third law of motion. Like force, respect too has an equal and opposite reaction. When you give it, you earn it too. This nurtures the relationship.
The Bottom Line
Such a short space can never be enough to fully understand the expanse and magnitude of Mother Teresa’s philosophy towards human relationships. However, we did peep into some beautiful teachings of Mother Teresa and believe they can make a difference to our relationship.
Comment your thoughts. We’ll be back soon with more food for thought on relationship and wedding. Watch this space!
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