People

The other night we had a friend over for dinner. We know her from Massachusetts. She used to work with Dave at his Using-My-Degree-To-Serve-Prime-Rib job...which all of have done at some point, right? Anyway, she was telling us about a guy that they used to work with. He was a bit of a punk. And, apparently, he and Dave got along really well. Dave was his superior and knew his strengths and used him well. Our friend told us that when Dave left the job, things went downhill for that kid. He got demoted and eventually fired.

All that got me thinking.

I was thinking how odd it is, that out of a whole staff of people, Dave was the only one that knew how to use that kid. Dave figured out what he was good at, how to work him well and I assume, how to help him. It strikes me as interesting that Dave had just the right something that matched up well with what that kid needed to make a good thing happen.

We are all so different...and even more so, we are all so specific. There is just the right amount of whatever in person x to affect person y in positive ways. Person z, for whatever reason doesn't have what is needed for person y. Just person x. It's all like a big puzzle. People fitting together. Helping each other. And some people don't fit together as well, or need to work harder at fitting together. And that's okay.

Sometimes I feel embarrassed when I don't fit together with someone. Or when I need to work harder at it. But, hearing that story took away that embarrassed feeling a little. I was made so specifically. For good reasons. If I was a piece that could fit with any other piece, well, then, I wouldn't be me. The very fact that there is a limited number of people I fit easily with, is itself a blesssing. It keeps me from getting spread too thin. It makes my relationships all the deeper and more profound. And, when I do choose to work at fitting together with people that I don't naturally fit with, that is also a blessing. I learn so much from that. About new people, new ways of thinking, different relationships. The struggle is good work. It is a blessing. I shouldn't be embarrassed.

So, when our friend left, I headed for bed. I lay there with this image of a blob of people. Everyone bumping into each other. Interacting. Some people connecting, and others not connecting.

It's the design. It's how it works.
and it's all okay.

It's like when your mom tells you that you can't be best friends with everyone. And then, as an adult, you figure out that she is right.