I think we all have some level of desire to connect with other humans. Some of us are talented enough to be able to speak with anyone, others may wish to connect with the thoughts of their author, while still others may long for those that have passed on. Any way we define it, we have relationships that help fuel our souls. Family relationships are the basic unit of our society. Parents and children start out on this life journey together. Some of us have had a great start with a wonderful childhood, while others may have struggled for years to develop healthy relationships. School provides an opportunity to test our relationship skills and make new friends. High school is rarely, if ever, something we desire to repeat, but we tend to remember the friends we had, and sometimes the trouble we’d get into together. From there on out life gives you opportunities to have relationships and experiences with other humans. Sometimes we decide we want to spend our lives with another human. Relationships are built and fall on the amount of maintenance we put in… kinda like brushing your teeth. Remember you only have to brush and floss the teeth you’d like to keep.
Think for a moment on this quote: “A great relationship is about two things, first find out the similarities, second, respect the differences.” I wonder how much more we could get done in society if we tried hard to find out how we can connect with others, and when we learn more about them, we show our respect for the things we don’t have in common.
This is one of my secret ingredients at the office. Today I had a patient that remarked that his son was in a rural part of Missouri. I lived in Missouri, so we narrowed it down and got to talk a little about a small connection of even just knowing the area. The whole team is really great about finding out about our patients. Jill and Traci have been with the office the longest and seem to really know everyone in the valley. Shiloh is supremely fantastic and practically has our patient base memorized. I’m nowhere near that good. When I first got here, I worried that I’d run into someone at the hardware store that recognizes me, and I have to do the, “hey buddy…partner…fella” dance. As time has gone on, it’s been fun to see our daily schedule and smile with the fun of who’s coming on that day.
I want to sum it all up with another quote, this time from Maya Angelou:
“People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
