ONE WAY STREET

Are you a ‘ONE WAY STREET’? Hmmm, I guess I can explain that one. There are those who are awesome at giving and others at receiving. But I ask you, which one are you?

I love to give, give, give. In some ways I have been a one way street in finding it easier to give than receive. However, that cuts off the flow in your life and burnout is inevitable. You can only give what you are and what you have. When the well is dry, what then?

Don’t get me wrong, I have received much in my life and am very thankful. I have not been comfortable always with receiving. Much of the time it has made me uneasy. Not so much now as I am open to receiving all that comes my way and if I can’t use it, then I get to pass it on.

I have a very funny story about one way streets to share with you about my Mom. We lived in a small town in North Carolina called Henderson. It’s in the upper central part of the state and we lived there for four years when I was growing up. My Mom didn’t get her license to drive until we moved there.

She was school teacher and started working which meant she needed to be able to drive. She had driven without a license, but shhh, don’t tell anyone. I will share another story sometime about that.

My Mom to this day has a great sense of humor but in this situation, she was dead serious. We were going downtown to shop, which is where the stores were located back then (ha ha ha). She had all four of us in the station wagon and I imagine that was fun!

As I understand the story and as it was told to me, Henderson had not had one way streets before and this was a new development. My Mom had not gotten the memo about the one way streets and how it works.

Mom made a left turn onto a street, yep, one way. But, the wrong way. A member of local law enforcement was on their toes. He pulled us over. When he came to the car window, he said to Mom, “Ma’am, you’re on a one way street.” Her response (and I quote), “But officer, I’m only going one way!”

He then proceeded to explain the new traffic patterns and let her off with a warning. Let’s not get stuck on a one way street, especially going the wrong way. I’ll remember that as long as I live. It’s a classic.

Be open to both giving and receiving in your life. You will be glad you did and others will see it. When your heart is open, you feel freer. Giving is great and admirable but don’t let you well run dry and allow others to pour in much needed water so you can reach out and share.

I hope this made you smile and think! If you’re on a one way street, turn around…

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