Radical (rad’i-kal) slang, meaning excellent or wonderful.
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh!” he whispered. “Yes, Piglet?” “Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.” -A.A. Milne
Imagine a place, like the 100-Acre Woods of Winnie-the-Pooh-land, where there is plenty of love and acceptance to go around. Now picture yourself in that place for just a moment and take time to reflect on your relationships, one by one. Imagine that each of your relationships is loving, healthy, and growing stronger and richer with each passing day.
Maybe that sounds a bit radical, but truly there is nothing in the world that can compare to maintaining healthy and loving relationships. The benefits of radical relationships are many, including a longer life and better health, greater productivity, more fun, and exceptional peace and security.
Positive relationships with family, friends, and those people who come into our lives via our jobs and responsibilities are so precious, and yet, as we all know, nurturing these relationships and keeping them alive and vibrant does not happen by osmosis. It requires time and energy to touch people in positive ways.
Being an encourager of others, I have found, is one of the best methods to developing radical relationships. Everyone needs and craves for a little encouragement–especially those with an empty bucket. Fill up someone’s bucket today with a note of encouragement, a kind deed, a hug, a phone call anything to get us out of ourselves. Let people know that you accept them just as they are and that you see the good in them. It’s so easy to find what is wrong with a person and to criticize and condemn and complain, but how much better to accept and encourage others!
Imagine what would happen if each day you reached out and blessed someone with the gift of acceptance. Amazingly, the simple practice of giving often returns back to us a hundred fold. (Now that’s what I call major relationship building or radical relationships!)
Do not let the fear of what others may think of you hold you back from making your relationships the best that they can be. Keep on building those RADICAL RELATIONSHIPS!
