It Takes a Village

I was driving to work the other night, and I was thinking about someone that I needed to check in with, for some reason that name brought to my mind a few other names. By the time I was done thinking about it, I was overwhelmed with the people in my life. It’s fun to talk about the importance of your five people. It’s interesting to talk about expanding that number to include the people you would put on your board or the people you would let sit at your table. But what about everybody else? I remember always hearing the quote “It takes a village to raise a child”. The older I got, the more I just heard the shortened version, “It takes a village”.  Turns out that saying is a well-known proverb that originated in African culture. It means that a child’s development and well-being depend on the collective support and care of a community, not just the parents. We are who we are today because of a village of people. We all know someone who thinks that they got to where they are all by themselves. One, they are wrong, and two, I find those people to be very difficult to deal with. People who think that they have got to where they are on their own, usually think that they don’t need anyone else. We all need people! So how often do we think about the people who helped us? Some of them are still in our lives in some way, but we don’t recognize them. One of the reasons I started thinking about people I needed to check in with was because I was thinking about people who made an impact in my life that I haven’t checked in with in a really long time. I read something on a few weeks ago that said “Someone you know is in the fight of their life”. When I read that, I thought about people I know who are fighting through something. I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t checked in with some of them in a while. They made an impact on my life, and I can’t remember the last time I talked to them. That bothers me for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is that some of them have done a great job checking in on me over the years when I was down. I understand that some people are only in your life for a season, and sometimes it’s just time to move on, and not look back. But I don’t ever want to forget the impact that some people have had on me. I think about my family all the time. Sometimes I think I do a great job of reaching out, other times I have no clue what some of them have been up to. I do a really good job of checking in on birthdays or special occasions, but I’m not sure about the other times. I’m not saying you make a big production of it, but just a word of encouragement could make all the difference. Again, someone you know is in the fight of their life right now. Someone you love is going through the fight of their life right now and all they need is a word of encouragement. We all get so busy with life, every single day something comes up that we need to do. Today we put off something that we will need to do tomorrow. I forget sometimes how quick and easy it is to text someone. As I write this I am thinking about two people in my life. My goal is that by the end of the week I will check in with both of them. I also want to pick out a family member to reach out to. The older I get the more I see people who take family for granted. I don’t want to do that. I need to do a better job of checking in with certain family members, I can’t be ok with just hearing updates from my parents. I am where I am right now because of a village of people who took time to care for me and teach me. I need to make sure that I am part of a village helping others, but I also need to remember to thank those people who got me here. I also know that I still need help, I don’t want to ever be one of those people who think that I did this alone. Thank You!