3. Inclusion

There have been many times where I have felt excluded from a group.  Without pointing out a specific experience, there have been many times in my life where I have felt like an outsider, even though I was among friends.  I think the case where most people end up feeling this way is when the people they are with seem to have a lot in common or some similar experience in which you do not relate.  As humans, we are really relational and we long for relationship in which we can share and relate to similar experiences and feelings.  When people connect on a level like that, the connection is strong, but when someone feels like they haven't had the same type of experience, it can be hard to feel included.  It helps when the people you are with help bring you into the situation and maybe explain an inside joke so that you can laugh about it to or just help you to understand where they are coming from.  For me, there have been times when I have started to feel excluded with friends who shared a fun experience that I wasn't a part of, but they would begin telling it TO me so that I could feel included, even if I hadn't been there.

In high school I was a part of a dance competition group in which I believe was very successful.  As a team, we had to share the same goal and purpose for being a part.  In order for us to succeed individually, though, we had to feel included in the group.  Keeping a positive attitude and being encouraging to one another definitely helped, because we were able to take critiques from each other and learn from them instead of getting upset.  Because we had built those relationships with each other and are able to build each other up, we were able to work hard individually and strive to succeed.  To feel accepted and included as a group allowed for each of us to work hard individually to improve our skills.  The two go hand in hand.

This is so true for every situation.  In order to work well and be successful as a group, we need to have that individual strength to be able to include others and ourselves.  Once we feel that inclusion, growing as a team or an organization will come a whole lot easier.