Daily Prompt – December 30, 2025

This is another prompt where I had to stop my literal brain from responding and look at it from the larger perspective. My immediate read of the prompt had me wanting to list out every relationship I consider to have a positive impact but thats really more minutiae than anyone wants to read. Of course that assumes anyone is actually reading these at all and not just liking them as they come across their feed. Anyway, self doubts about my writing aside, let’s talk about this.

Now that I’ve quelled that literal response instinct, I can see that the better way to tackle this prompt is to discuss the qualities of relationships that have a positive impact on me. The things that all those relationships I would have listed and explained have in common.

Relationships that have a positive impact on me must be built in solid communication and respect. They must allow for authentic and uncensored expression of emotions. They should build me up not tear me down. Constructive criticism is always welcome even if hard to swallow but it is best delivered with positive feedback and positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is the fastest way to get me to walk away from any relationship, professional or personal.

I think that the other key here, when I look at this prompt, I don’t think about any one particular kind of relationship. I think about everything from work to friends to romantic relationships. They all matter when it comes to positive impact. I think often times people stay in relationships of a non-romantic nature that don’t have a positive impact because they don’t place the same weight on the impact of those relationships as they do on romantic relationships. I personally think all relationships matter equally. If the relationship is impacting me negatively, then I need to figure out to offset or fix that impact. With a work relationship that can obviously be trickier than with a personal relationship where walking away from it can be the simplest solution. Walking away from a job isn’t always feasible. It also matters if the negative impact is coming from a co-worker who you can control how much you interact with or from your boss because one has way more power in your life than the other. For me, I’ve had enough toxic bosses that I won’t stay in those situations for long. A coworker however, I can limit my time and energy so as to minimize that negative impact.

Anyway I digress as I often do. The main point is the relationships that have a positive impact on me are the ones that have positive value. I know that probably sounds like circular thought and seems akin to using it the word in the definition but it’s the simplest way I can describe it.