Personal Narrative: My First Real Relationships

My first real relationship shows why I gained isolation and exclusivity instead of intimacy. This is the sixth stage in Erikson’s theory and this is when people are able to gain love, the basic strength of the sixth stage, or exclusivity, the core pathology of the sixth stage. This stage is when a person realizes that they can be with someone without losing their own identity. During this stage, a person must sacrifice and compromise with another person in order to form a commitment. If a person is able do those things, they will gain the basic strength of this stage: love. If not, they will gain the core pathology: exclusivity. However, a little bit of exclusivity is okay, because it can further the strength of their identity. My relationship with my first boyfriend was great in the beginning. The honeymoon stage is really great and it was really nice to love, and to be loved by, someone. We were able to sacrifice our plans to be with each other and we were able to compromise ideas and beliefs to stay together. However, after a few months, the relationship started to go sour. He started making plans unbeknownst to me and relied on me to make the relationship work even though he hardly put …show more content…
With my will and fidelity, I am able to solve problems of my own. If I were unable to develop these basic strengths, then I would not have been able to proceed to the next stages. For example, my will has made it possible for me to take the initiative to tell my first grade teacher about what the girl had done. If it were not for will, I would have never taken up dancing and I would have never had identity crises during my middle school years. My will made it possible for me to take a chance to do something that I wanted to do. As for fidelity, it made me into the person I am today. Also, it gave me the willpower to leave my relationship with my first boyfriend, because I knew that I was my own