Investments-An interesting concept

Wood (2010) describes investments as "what we put into relationships that we could not retrieve if the relationships were to end". I found this to be an interesting part of the chapter because I had never thought about this aspect of a relationship before reading this. I have been in a relationship for five years now and I can admit that it does require the time, money, and thoughts and feelings that were discussed in this part of the chapter. If my relationship ended tomorrow there would be no way to recover these aspects of the relationship. A friend of mine recently went through a break up with someone who she had invested all her emotional and physical energy into. She moved in with him because she thought that they were going to be together for a long time. Before she moved in with him she sold all her belongings because she thought that his stuff was much nicer than hers. After living together for 6 months, he told her that he had lost his feelings for her, and she felt blindsided by this. A few days before he had told her he loved her and went with her to her nephews birthday party. She put all her energy in to making the relationship work, but all it took was one person having a change of heart for it to end. This concept made me think about how my friends investments into that relationship will never be recovered, and she is now resentful toward her ex because of this. She had to start all over by purchasing new belongings for a new apartment she is renting, and she said that she now has trust issues that may leak into her next relationship.