It all begins with two people creating another or more. Here is the unalterable fact that people need people. Why does this truth go so awry as we age? I wish I could answer this question to benefit those who find ways to alienate others. For everyone else, I offer how best to understand and nurture the most important relationships.
I make it my responsibility to build relationships, and it does not matter with whom. If a waiter in a restaurant, I’ll build the bridge. If visiting a new Doctor or any professional I need to see, I build the relationship. If it’s the people that work for me or I work for them, I build the relationship.
It is not that those I meet, regardless of the reason, are not intent on a relationship with me; I do not have any expectations that they will or are supposed to. Still, I do not wait. I desire to communicate with almost anyone I see as one of my own, which is me simply being a person. A smile, kind words, and “thank you” are so easy to do and speak. And why not?
When Barbra Streisand sings: “People Who Need People Are the Luckiest People in The World,” she speaks to all of us. The words mean so much if we recognize how profound is our need for each other.
Never forget we do not exist except for others. Have we thanked them? Do we take the time to acknowledge those who have brought us into this world? Do we know their history? Have we taken the time to listen, understand, and appreciate that we are here because of them?
Sadly, I never took the time to sit my parents down and ask about their lives as children and young adults. Although I needed to know their story and family history, I failed to ask. It’s a loss I can never make up for.
Sy
