WORK TO BE A BLESSING

“Focus on your strengths, more than your weaknesses. Focus on your character, not your reputation. Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes.” Roy T. Bennett

Last week, the busyness of work made me realize just how BLESSED I actually am. Professionally, I work with individuals that have been diagnosed with some type of developmental disability- Schizophrenia, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Mental Illness, etc.  Some clients are high functioning, some bedridden, and solely dependent on others for their care, and some are in between the two. My job is to coordinate and connect them to resources, supports, and services that would enable them to live their best lives.  Even with the assorted scenarios that contributed to the busyness of last week- from filing a report for suspected physical abuse, or dealing with a 22-year-old schizophrenic young lady that continuously meets guys on the internet and takes off with them for days, to assisting a client that is homeless and sleeping in his car, I found myself feeling overwhelmingly BLESSED. Not because it’s a better them than me attitude, but because my job is to alleviate hardSHIPS and difficulties for these families. IWORK TO BE A BLESSING. As I pondered this thought, I began to wonder if we have to WORK TO BE A BLESSING in OUR own relationSHIPS and concluded, we absolutely DO!!! I don’t believe BLESSINGS just happen. I believe BLESSINGS are choices that require action from us in order for them to manifest in our lives. I believe BLESSINGS are intentional. Do you agree?  Do you think we have to WORK TO BE A BLESSING in our relationSHIPS?  For this week’s blog, let’s talk SHIP about the need for us to WORK TO BE A BLESSING in our relationSHIPS!!      

I’ve learned, through an array of relationSHIP experiences, that BLESSINGS are NOT automatic. BLESSINGS require, from us, both effort AND hard work.  It’s true! If our relationSHIPS are to be loving, respectful, and successful ones, everyone within them must WORK TO BE A BLESSING in them. We must be willing participants IN the process IF we expect to be the benefactor OF the desired outcomes. We must become the thing we desire. For instance, if we want to be understood, we must be willing to understand. If we want to be heard, we must be willing to listen.  If we want to receive, we must be willing to give.  If we want to love,  we must be willing to be loveable.  If we want to be accepted, we must be willing to let go of judgments and accept people and situations for what and who they are and NOT who or what we think they should be.  If we want patience, we must be willing to be patient. If we feel the need to always give suggestions and advice, we must be willing to accept the advice and suggestions of others. If we want forgiveness, we must be willing to forgive. If we want peace, we must be willing to be peaceful. If we want to always be right, we must be willing to accept that we can be wrong too. If we want to be trusted, we must be willing to trust. If we want harmonious relationSHIPS with family and friends,  we must be willing to contribute harmony. There are NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS about it, in relationSHIPS, everyone must WORK TO BE A BLESSING. And If we are unwilling to do the work, then we can’t realistically expect to yield any positive outcomes.

Although all of us yearn to be in satisfying, thriving, and BLESSED relationSHIPS with our family and friends, we seldom acknowledge the hard work-selflessness, compromise, forgiveness, communication- required to make it happen in each relationSHIP. Before BLESSINGS can manifest in our lives, and the lives of others, we must use the proper tools required to build and sustain positive relationSHIPS. Just like certain jobs require we use specific tools to complete a task, our relationSHIPS in order for them to become successful also requires we use specific tools. What kind of tools? Well Galatians 5:22-23, answers that question for us. It suggests that we frequently and interchangeably use 9 specific tools as we WORK TO BE A BLESSING in our relationSHIPS– love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Using these tools requires little effort and maybe that game-changing BLESSING needed to revive and refresh our relationSHIPS. We are living in such chaotic times, and sharing tools such as – love, patience, understanding, forgiveness, kindness, and joy- can go a long way and benefits everyone. Are you willing to use your tools as you WORK TO BE A BLESSING in your relationSHIPS?

Using patience- for myself and others– as my foundation, every day I WORK TO BE A BLESSING in my relationSHIPS by making adjustments to ensure that they are harmonious, loving, and peaceful. I make a daily commitment to be a better person than I was the day before. By NO means am I perfect, I fall short, but without fail, I continue to make an effort to listen more, to understand more, to promote more peace, to practice more harmony, and to show more love. Some may not always receive the gift in the spirit given but that’s NOT my issue, that’s theirs. My quest is to have meaningful, loving, joyful, and harmonious relationSHIPS, so I commit myself to being a loving, joyful, and harmonious person. I commit to doing the WORK TO BE A BLESSING in relationSHIPS with myself and others. I commit to making a cognizant effort to frequently and interchangeably use my tools –love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control- as I WORK TO BE A BLESSING in all of my relationSHIPS! !!

SHIP TALK: Do you WORK TO BE A  BLESSING within your relationSHIPS?   If so, how?

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