Posted on February 22nd, 2010
Last night I went out for dinner with some very dear friends. You know; the type of friends that you’ve shared life experiences with for over 30 years! The kind of friends that you may only see a few times a year as a whole group, but you don’t skip a beat when you do get together.
Early in the evening, I found myself jumping from one conversation to the other and getting fragmented stories of joys and challenges over the last year. Then, one woman suggested we take turns telling our stories. What a great idea!
The opportunity to focus and really listen to the stories of each of these dear friends was very satisfying. Not only was it incredibly fulfilling to have someone really listen to me and my story, it was deeply meaningful to listen to the uniqueness of each of our life journeys and realize that we have more in common then we have different.
The memories of the evening have me thinking about what it means to honor diversity. Today my thoughts are that at the heart of honoring diversity is the realization that we are more alike than different and that even though our culture, life experiences, family of origin, belief systems and choices may be broad and varied, we all are on the same journey – to learn about how we can be the best person we can be – be someone we can honor through all of life’s joys and challenges.
Here are some good questions that you can use to encourage others to share their story with you.
- Tell me more about that…
- What are you experiencing with that – joy and/or challenge?
- Are you ok?
- How can I best support you?
~Georgine
