Connecting with Community

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A relationship worth mending...........

"If someone shows you who they are believe them" Maya Angelo

We are blessed with all different types of relationships. All of them necessary at some point in
our life and not one of them easy. Relationships take work.
We have work relationships, family relationships, marital relationships,parental relationships and so many others.
 Lets talk about work relationships. They are necessary but  may only be temporary. If I work at Walmart I may have work relationships while I am employed there. I say hello talk about
what I did on the weekend and every now and then share a little about my personal life. These relationships are necessary, they allow me to feel a part of this environment.
When I move on I may not stay connected with these relationships. I will gain new ones at my new place of employment. It is possible to take some of these relationships with me but for the most part I will leave most of them behind.
Remember our friends in high school, college, first job, and old neighborhoods. Take a minute and think about how many of these we are still connected to. It is not that we didn't work at staying connected it is just that those relationships were for that season in our life. We learn and grow with everyone we meet. We are better people for having met all of these people.

Tyler Perry aka Madea explains it something like this.
Relationships are like trees. Some of the people in our lives are the leaves, they sway when the wind blows and during certain seasons fall away. We can all recall of people in our lives that fell away when we
were faced with a storm, well they were our leaves. We have all made the mistake of trying to hold on to people that we should of  let go. It is necessary to let go of the leaves so we can grow new ones. We damage not only ourselves but we damage others by holding on to something we should let go of.
 It is hurtful and not necessary.
Some are like branches and appear sturdy and strong until you walk out on the limb. Most of the branches are not strong enough to hold us up. Remember a new friendship when you are beginning to trust. Maybe a new boyfriend or a teammate. If we walk out on that limb to soon it is not capable of holding us. Trust is something that is earned with time. A branch has taken time to grow and when it is broken it can not be repaired.
Now the roots of a tree are what keep the tree standing. Through it all the roots remain. 
At the beginning they are not obviously apparent but when the storm comes and the wind begins to blow you will see them. I like redwood trees. If you have ever studied redwoods you know that they can not stand without joining with the roots of  the trees standing near by.  Redwoods are  typically 350 feet in height and the roots reach no deeper than 6-12 feet and are only 1 inch in diameter. Small but mighty.
You ask how does a redwood remain upright. They grow close together intermingling root systems.
This is what I call connecting. You help your neighbor when you connect them to other roots. This helps all of us to remain standing.
My friend Anette is a root, she is small but mighty. I take great pride in standing near her. She teaches and is not shy to learn from others. She has taught me that it all starts with one tree...... the right tree. Then sooner or later you have a forrest. A forrest that provides shelter and aid to all that live in it.
Redwoods are also resistant to fires and rot. I want to be like a redwood I want to survive the fires in life and
endure all the rotten stuff this world has to offer. So that I may help others do the same.

Todays blog inspired by my friend Angi Lange

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