Carpe Mentality: 12 Days to Seizing Your Best Life in Christනියැදිය

Community: The Family a Person Chooses

We have all been born into a family, whether we like that family or not, but we also have the choice to choose close individuals we connect with on a deep level. People we trust, whose back we have. They trust us and have our backs. We know they are on our side, and we love them for it. We all need people in our corner, fighting for us. People who have at heart our best interest.

Building a successful community must start in your home. Find someone in your life who has a healthy community within their home: a strong marriage, intentional parenting, and all in all good family life. If possible, ask that person what it takes and simply mimic the answer. This will act as your guide to cultivate a strong community within your home. Then you will be ready to build your community beyond.

You can find community everywhere. The point is that you establish community. People are necessary in our lives. There is an old African proverb that says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This authentic Habit 6, of building community, is a key to your overall development. You can meet these people anywhere and everywhere.

It might come naturally for you to be outgoing and meet new people. If so, you, like myself, might want to consider how deep and meaningful your relationships are. Consider the thought that it is not about how big your circle is but rather how deep and meaningful those ties are. I challenge you to question your relationships. Take a healthy deep dive to ask who is in your community.

Are they impacting you in a positive way or a negative way? Are they challenging you? Are you challenging them? What are they providing you? What are you providing for them? How can you improve those connections? How can you challenge those connections to grow? Do not just coast through life, meeting people or not at leisure; be intentional. Put in the effort to connect. To understand them. To sympathize with them. Build long-lasting, meaningful connections that can be life-changing for everyone.

If you regularly keep to yourself, it might be time you step out of your comfort zone. If it is hard for you to connect, hard to find people you have common interests with, start with the basics. The basics are we all have one common interest, we share life together. We all have basic needs and a desire to breathe and live this life as we please. We all want to live and exist for another day. We can rally and support each other, based on such simple recognitions as that we all value life. Life is short and not always sweet; it demands community to support us.

To go through the ebb and flow of life with people you connect with in your community is only going to enhance God’s original design for your life. Those connections will challenge you at the times you need to be challenged. There is no time like the present. You have been given a life and that life is finite. You are only guaranteed right now. Decide you want to put in the work to build your chosen community.

On the other side, there are people waiting to meet you. There are communities that need what you have. You have gifts and talents. Find those communities because without you those people will be missing something. And that something is you! You are valuable.

Enhancing other people's lives with your life will not only fulfill them, but it will bring you the greatest satisfaction. That satisfaction stems from a selfless love. That love stems from a place of laying down your life for others. To be there for others. To encourage others. They might not act like it, but they need you. We all carry around a level of pride that conveys to others that we have it all figured out. News flash: we do not have it all figured out. We are all incomplete without a community of people around us who love and support us.

That love is pure selflessness. Find your authentic self by building a community of people who are your chosen family. The choice is yours, and the time is now. You are only guaranteed this very second. Use it wisely, my friend. Build your community.