Belonging to your community

Figures earth, photo by Sanja Gjenero, Zagreb, Croatia, community activitiesA natural need of a human being is to belong to another and to a community. Belonging to your community is far more important than people realise. Without that we can be tempted into isolation. The community can be your family and friends sharing similar interests, or your church group, or your self help group. Some of the those interests can be doing voluntary work for charitable and benevolent projects, or hobbies and sports. The learning community is another powerful area involvement. Even if your community is not a church group, belonging to a community is another form of spirituality.

how wonderful a project to see schools promoting
a marathon walk or something similar where the students
collect sponsor signatures to raise money for a charity
the excitement experienced by
the participant and the supporters
with the outcome of raising funds
or other donations which benefit
people, animals or the environment
ultimately the process rippling out globally
such a simple beginning with a profound ending
which can be duplicated over and over everywhere

Steep learning curve

BMX photo by Cédric Aellen Orbe, Vaud, Switzerland www.alienlebarge.ch sxc.hu 52036No matter what age, we can have experiences that are new to us and we often go through a steep learning curve over and over. The idea is to realise that this can be a challenge and to hang in there till the lesson is learned.

as a youngster I wanted a bike and
my father agreed on the condition that
I learned to ride his bike first
to show my commitment!

it was exciting and frightening
but after falling off many times
it all came together for me

and on my own bike
I even rode expertly
doing things like wheelies
and riding without
holding the handlebars

what a steep learning curve
but a worthwhile reward
which I often use as an example
to get me through the difficulties
of, say, developing my website skills!