Relationships are an essential part of our lives; they are all around us in many different shapes and forms. But sometimes we forget how important they can be to our health and wellbeing.

Someone shared this video with me earlier this week, a brilliant video looking at the need to consider long-term health of our brains, which relationships pay a big part in - http://bigthink.com/videos/david-agus-on-long-term-brain-health?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1463269753

When I was starting to think about this, it really took me on a journey through my life and all of the different people who have come and gone, as well as the people I will connect with in the future.

I guess the best place for me to start is: what is a relationship? Now, on the face it seems simple, and if we look at a definition we will find it as the way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected. So, in its absolute essence, a relationship is all about connections.

This year's Mental Health Awareness Week is about focusing us all back to the absolute core of what a relationship is, and why they are so important for all of us.

Relationships come in all shapes and sizes and almost all of them are built on trust and respect. Before I started writing this, I began talking about relationships with my friends, colleagues and family. What this really emphasised for me was that relationships are incredibly personal to every single person. Whilst it may seem like relationships are the same to everyone, they are not. The underlying themes may be similar, but we all judge what a good relationship is on an individual level.

 Just talking to a few people brought out a whole host of what a good relationship is to them, what matters and why that is important. Below is just a sample of what is important in a relationship: 

• Closeness - having the ability to be open and honest
• Trust and belief in someone
• It’s two-way
• Being invested in someone
• Caring about their health, happiness and wellbeing
• Totally loving someone
• An investment by both parties
• Selflessness, even when you want to be selfish

Why not take a minute today to think about what a relationship is to you, why that is important and what you are doing to help build and maintain healthy relationships. Do we need to do more to invest in being present with our friends and families - really listening and absorbing?

We have recently launched our Mood and Stress space on Puffell – you can see a video of this in action here (https://youtu.be/N84vHeLXErM) showing how it can help you. If you just need a friend, there is always a community on www.puffell.com where you can talk.

Contact me on 0151 647 4700 or at stephen.theobald@icecreates.com to find out more.