The power of connecting

"We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results." Herman Melville

Our connections determine how we grow, who we become and how equipped we are to fulfill our relations with others. It’s through meaningful connections that our hearts are fulfilled.

We were designed to connect with others. In connecting with others we enrich and nourish our relationships.  Connecting encourages us to work with others, through dialogue, and through a sense of belonging and searching together. Our personalities deepen and grow as we seek to engage with others. We gain openness and respect for others when we willing to share more and learn more.

Our connections with others are largely depending on our own ability and attitudes. By examining and reflecting on our behaviors, we can better understand how to connect in a meaningful way. This requires the suspension of our own personal agenda in exchange for a relational one. Our relationships begin to flourish when we are both present in the connection together. It creates a powerful connection that continues to build upon previous small connections.

When we connect, we come to know. When we come to know, we are able to understand better. Every one of us as a deep desire to be understood respected and appreciated.  We are all individuals with our own kind of richness and gifts to be discovered.  

Personal development speaker and author Zig Ziglar, who died this week said,   "Every person has unique gifts, and those gifts give him or her the power and the opportunity to accomplish great things, if he or she learns how to use those gifts and channel them in the right direction."

Real communication implies something deeper than polite acceptance of those who are different. It means accepting those who are different, appreciating them and their views, creating bonds of authentic friendships with them. These connections are vital for human growth. We need courage to accept each other differences. We are all part of a community. Whether we are with our family, friends or colleagues, we are part of a community. Our communities are the sum of all us. We meet together to create something bigger than ourselves.

"Only through our connectedness to others can we really know and enhance self. And only through working on the selfcan we begin to enhance our connectedness to others." Harriet Goldhor Lerner

By connecting, we have to discover who the other person is and through real dialogue. In the process of connecting we also discover more of who we are. As we deeply listen and meet the other person, we begin to see their uniqueness and strengths.

When we enter relationships, we open our hearts to one another to discover a bigger meaning than our selves. We pour our life to others to create a memorable journey together. The journey we take together is a journey of mutual discovery. It’s a journey that can be defined by our character, trust, respect, and ability to have the courage to make changes in our attitudes.

Personal relationships involve our openness, vulnerability, by a way of listening to, understanding, and caring for others that reveals to them their values and worth.  We add value to people when we love and respect them instead of ignoring and being indifferent to them. We create a strong connection when we get to know each other, appreciate each other, seeing each other value and receiving from each other.