We cannot truly be known until we begin to share both our joys and our burdens with one another. The human heart has a deep longing to be known and to know others and it also has an incredible capacity to absorb and reflect the beauty of other hearts.
When I first started working for the Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District, I knew I would have the opportunity to get to know more people in my community but I never realized the impact those relationships would have on my growth as an individual. I remember when I started working at the pool I wanted to make it a purpose to remember the names of all the regulars who came to swim. After getting their names down I wanted to know some of the stories behind those names. What were they passionate about? What did they do for a living? Why do they swim? I began to really enjoy the opportunity to know our guests as more than just the manager of a hotel, a coach, or a school teacher who came to swim. There are countless stories behind each face that gives a smile as they walk into the locker room and I wanted to hear more about them.
It wasn’t until sharing some deeper conversations with one lady that I began to realize that a big part of being known is giving others permission to step into our lives and experience both the joys and the burdens we face. When I clock in for work at the pool or West End Beach as a lifeguard, or supervising at the Fitness Center, I know that I’m not just performing required duties to keep things safe and running smoothly but that I’m also stepping into an arena that has the potential to foster relationships. And this is what makes the difference between just working to survive and using the workplace as a way to experience life with others in community.
Every conversation has the potential to reveal more of a person’s story and to share some of our own. Regardless of age, gender, race, profession, or belief, there is an incredible depth of relationship that can be experienced between two people who recognize and step into the opportunity to be known. I have found in several cases that both parties involved will be richly blessed by one another. They will be challenged, changed, and encouraged to continue their own growth as an individual seeking to know and be known by others along the way.
So as I move on my way, I take with me every conversation, laugh, and burden that was shared with those I came in contact with through the circumstances I was placed in. Because when we experience depth of relationship with others it’s something that keeps living and growing as we ourselves let those experiences continue to influence us as we move on.
The idea of human relationship has never been so clear to me as it has in the past couple of years. I’ve come to learn deeper what it means to live my life as if every moment of it is lived for the sake of the kingdom. If you truly listen well to people when they are speaking, you will find that it becomes easy to know exactly how to bless them and provide them with what they really need. My understanding of relationships over the past several years was one where I felt I needed to be the one to foster relationships based on what I felt I needed and what I thought others wanted. Now, however, I’ve come to see that life is simply doing what you are already doing but doing it with intentionality. We don’t necessarily choose the people we are with and the situations we find ourselves in but we do have the ability to take these things and live out our life of faith with the intention of loving and serving those around us. I want to arrive at the end of my life and be able to say that I really lived and loved well; that I experienced deep relationship with other people not just for the sake of doing so, but for the sake of sharing life in a meaningful way with others. I want to know that I gave of myself for the sake of others as they did the same for me because at our core we all have the desire to truly know others and to be known.
