Current Inspiration

The Crew/Your people

For those of you new to this blog, I’m writing a series about an analogy I wrote called You are the Boat, charting a course toward a life worth looking forward to. Each week I’ll write about the different parts of the Boat.  I started the beginning of the year with the Ship’s Wheel/Heart, followed by the Captain/Guide, the Rudder/Attitude, the Captain’s Office/Mind and then the  follow-up Embrace the place where life happens, and then the Keel/Responsibilities. This week I’ll write about the Crew/ Your people.

You can’t sail through life all by yourself.

Okay, maybe you can but, in order to live a complete, fun, fulfilling life, you’re going to need a crew. You can live without other people, but you won’t thrive.

It’s a great feeling to know when someone has your back. When you realize you don’t have to do everything yourself, it frees up your mind and gives you a chance to think about and do more important stuff. However, you must be willing and able to trust them and ask for help. (it’s difficult sometimes, I know)

Knowing that you trust them enough to ask for their help is quite a compliment. Look at it this way, it’s worth it to let them try, even when they don’t do it ‘your’ way. It helps to build their self-confidence and it strengthens their bond with you. After all…….

Many hands make light work.

Back a few years ago, I realized I had developed a nasty habit. I would spend all day cleaning and then expected my darling husband to not only notice how hard I had worked, but to praise me for it. When he got home from working all day, I felt justified in making him feel guilty because I had been washing His dishes, cleaning His house and making His meals. Basically, I didn’t really think about how I made him feel, I just wanted a pat on the back. (My stomach churns remembering this, ugh!)

The picture to the right is the drawing of a picture that came into my head during a dream. When I woke up, this image was burned into my brain. This person seems to be broken and sad, while the bull-horn with the word RESPECT on the side represents how words have a very deep effect on people.

Ultimately, You can’t force someone to respect you. You have to earn it.

When we treat people will kindness, respect and admiration, we’ll see it reflected back to us.

I still do most of the housework. However,  now I don’t throw it in his face. I do it because it’s part of my responsibilities. When I start to feel overwhelmed, or resentful that I’m doing more than my share, I’ll ask for help. Nicely. Without the guilt-inducing accusations. And usually, my darling husband and wonderful son are happy to help. They both realize how blessed we all are to have such a happy family.

Which reminds me of the cartoon that saved my marriage….

I keep this cartoon framed and up in the laundry room, where we all can see it. It’s a nice reminder that our son will reflect how we feel about each other. My greatest wish is that our wonderful son will grow up to marry someone who treats him with kindness, respect and admiration. If he grows up seeing it, there’s a much better chance he’ll find it.

Which brings me to the rest of the Crew. Your people aren’t just your immediate family, but your extended family, friends and co-workers too. All of these people have an effect on your Boat. Whether they have a positive or negative effect on you is something for you to seriously think about. Although you can’t control anybody else’s actions, you can control how you react to them.

If you find yourself cringing whenever you know you’re going to see a particular member of your Crew, stop and think. “How is this person effecting me and my other crew members? What am I learning from this person? What would I lose if I let this person go?” REMEMBER! You have a responsibility to your crew to protect them and yourself. You deserve to have a happy and successful life, but it takes effort.

“The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow into their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond our wildest dreams.” Sidney Madwed

I sincerely hope this has helped you,  my friendly blog reader!

So……..Who’s on your crew?

Are they helping you? How?

If not, what are you going to do about it?

I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments!

I’ll be back on Monday with the Inspirational song of the week.

xoxo

Pam

p.s. Check out this video for a for some help clearing out the Toxic people in your life.

and this one too!!!