A few days ago I went to the store to find one of my undergraduate friends her graduation present. Since my friend’s graduation is a big milestone in her life, I decided that I had to find her the perfect, meaningful graduation gift.
Fast forward a few days, today I get a text message from a mutual friend of ours saying, “You are the sweetest person I have ever known. Your graduation gift to our friend is so cute!” I was shocked by this kind statement from our friend because I had no idea how she could have known what the graduation gift was. After this text message I proceeded to log onto to Facebook where I found a picture of the gift with the following lovely statement:
“Once again, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I have the greatest and most supportive friends anyone could ask for. Thank you so much for the graduation gift.”
While it was not my intention, my little act of kindness for her turned into a little act of kindness for me as well. The important concept that I took away from this situation is that if you are a part of a great community, each member will be able to get support while also giving support to another community member. This getting and giving of support has become such a natural way of acting within my community that I often think we forget how much of a support system we truly are for one another.
So how do you stumble upon a community where getting and giving support becomes such a natural way of acting?
- Make sure you are a part of community who truly understands different aspects of each others lives
- Keep a form of communication that is almost constant (EX: group message, Facebook messages, Skype, or group phone call)
- Choose to do things because they are going to make someone else feel good
After all, isn’t that exactly what community is about?
