Community

One of my favorite reads is Moby – He says what is on his mind, and he does so in a manner that is refreshing and respectful - this week he is talking about Community - Go there to read more if you wish.

It got me thinking about myself however, and how I live my life, and also how some of my friends live their lives. In my church, we have a saying, “ If you want to be loved, then go and love someone” In other words you only get what you give.

I feel like a lot of times that I’m not part of a community, but when I think about it. I must admit that if I don’t feel part of a community, it is because of my own actions.

Some examples of the things I do are;
I don’t comment on every one’s blogs that I read.
When on a bicycle ride, I don’t talk to everyone that might be on the same ride.
I don’t call people on the phone and talk to them, ask them how they are.

I starting riding in the Aids-Lifecycle as doing something that was giving to others, it brought me great rewards, but though I was now part of this “community” I still felt a disconnect, so I became a Training Ride Leader.

This required more giving on my part, more of my time, more of my knowledge, more of my heart. And, so my rewards were greater. I received back in return more love and more gratitude. And I discover, the more I give, the more I get back.

On one of the rides, a rider came up to me, and said, “What is you TRLs do, no one is talking to me. – I wanted to say – We are not your social club, we are here to train you. But cooler heads prevailed, and we gently guided him into introducing himself to the people around him, and then checked in with him, to make sure he was putting himself out there. Sometimes I forget that THE RIDE is about the people we help, that THE RIDE, only works because of the love that is THE RIDE.

This also happens at Church (and many other social functions) people tend to think that if they show up that is good enough, no, you have to interact, you have to talk and listen.

I’m good at the listening part, and that is important, especially if you can listen (not thinking of what you are going to say next), but one must say what is on your mind, hopefully in a respectful manner.

If you are outspoken, but think you have no friends, it might be how you express yourself. Sometimes people get tired of all the drama.

Sometimes, I want more interaction, but in reality, I’m pretty busy doing my own thing, so it boils down to, I make my own decisions about where I want to spend my time, though if I didn’t have to work…

I’d be traveling, visiting, commenting on everyone’s blogs, going on longer bike rides, doing more gardening, painting more.