Community - Personal Practice

It’s a challenge to step out of single minded behavior!  I so wanted to do my own thing this past week, many times!

Not that doing things on my own is a bad thing, it can be a Great Thing!  In fact, I find it rejuvenating to get out and go for a run on my own or to take care of chores by myself.  And I did.

But I also made adjustments to my normal routine this week for the sake of being part of something larger than myself.  Which I truly want to be!

I let go of the need to meet some selfish goals and expectations of myself and gave that time to others.

I spent more time on a project at work.  I continue to work on the project to make it better in an attempt to help others when I am no longer available to them.  I’m investing in their success!  I hope they will do the same for someone else someday.  

I made choices to forgo activities I planned and spent that time instead with a loved one.  I did this because I want the person to know that I love them and I am willing to make sacrifices for the health of the relationship.

I adjusted my schedule to make time for friends I hadn’t spent time with in a while.  The time spent was quality and relaxing.  I felt the honest and mutual appreciation of our friendship and I’m grateful to have wonderful people in my life.

I made a phone call in the attempt to reconnect with a friend.  I haven’t heard back.

I made a selfish choice too.

I made a personal choice to forgo an event for my own sake.  This choice left me struggling on how to tell my friend that they could not rely on me to attend the event.  I had the option of sending a card with my regrets.  Instead, I put aside my fear of disappointing my friend and picked up the phone and was honest about my choice.  It left me feeling lighter after the personal interaction.  I also felt closer to the individual as we had a chance to catch up on our lives in a short time and make tentative plans to get together in the future.

All the activity led me to think about the value of being part of a Community!  How each of these relationships enrich my life.  

I felt struggle with each of these specifically because I had planned out my life for the week in a way that was most suitable to me as an individual.

I thought back to choices I had made in recent years to participate more and join communities.  Joining the communities brought me to these people who I have become close with.  I feel more connected and I feel like a stronger person because of these relationships that community brought me to.

So, I put my individual needs aside and had one of the best weeks!

Some communities are easy, some are hard.  They each have a time and place in life.

But they are all worth it!