“It’s not that I don’t like her, I just don’t know her yet.” Those were the words that came out of my mouth when a leader at my World Race training camp asked if there was anyone I didn’t want to be on a team with. It was an honest answer, and the kindest way I knew to express my desire to not cross that bridge quite yet. She probably said the same thing about me.
Then in month five, the inevitable happened. Within the first hour of us being on the same team, we both decided that we were going to make the best of it. We didn’t talk about needing to make it work, we just knew that for the sake of our sanity and our team’s unity, we needed to set our differences aside.
We shared stories about what made us tick, and it gave us a better understanding of where we were both coming from. And the context of our histories helped us to have more grace for each other when we just didn’t quite understand how someone could achieve the other’s point of view. I allowed her to dance to Taylor Swift and she allowed me to be a crazy person about the smell of dirty laundry. I didn’t mind that she was a Democrat, and she didn’t mind that I was a Republican.
Without condemning the other person, or pointing fingers, or telling them they were wrong, we put on our big girl panties and did what we needed to do to make it work. In the end, we genuinely enjoyed each others company. Yes, it took a lot of work at first, but even the easiest relationships take work. But you know what it came down to for this relationship, and every other relationship to develop from it’s very superficial beginnings?
We got to know each other.
I’m so glad we were on a team together. My squad-leaders were brilliant for making that happen. Without the World Race, I’d probably still be avoiding every relationship I didn’t want to be a part of. I’m so glad I don’t.
You guys, I can’t stress enough how much tension could be eliminated if we just got to know the person we don’t understand. And in these last days when there seems to be more opinions of right and wrong, brilliance and stupidity, and good and evil than ever before, we need to be even more intentional in order to establish unity.
Let’s get to know each other again.
