My kids really love listening to stories. We have a few apps that we listen to, most recently Kinderling. They have a beautiful story section, and my sons favourites are the Indigenous stories.
Recently we listened to one called ‘The story of Malian’, told by Darren Compton.
It was a great story about choosing your friends. An eagle become friends with a silly ground turkey, and the eagle forgets to be kind and brave, and how to soar in the sky. Instead he scratches the ground while yelling insults to people, forgetting how majestic he is. He disappoints family and friends, making his parents sad. Until he remembers who he really is and he steps back into his eagle like ways.
This story is very similar to a conversation I had with my 16yr old step son recently. We were discussing drinking and drugs, and I told him that his Dad and I weren’t stupid, we didn’t think that he would never try anything, but we hoped that if he did, he knew he could call us if he needed us.
Also that, no matter what, he always kept at least one friend by his side. I told him how important it was to have someone you can trust with you during your teens, someone who will always look out for you, and you for them. I told him stories of my final high school years, the troubles we got ourselves into, but the strong relationship we had with each other meant we would never leave one another.
He listened and told me how deeply important his friends were to him, that he felt like they had each shaped one another into the people they were. As you can imagine, I smiled wide on the inside and played it totally cool on the outside :)
These two experiences got me thinking
about the people in my life.
I still have some amazing friends from my high school days. There are 7 of us, each with a different story, background and family life. But each of us still has so much to offer our group. We chat weekly on messenger, and are still one of the first groups we turn to on advice about all things boys (men), family and now babies. Those girls will never leave my life. After 20+ years, who could be bothered leaving?!
I have some beautiful friends that I met through ex boyfriends. These girls have seen me at my most heartbroken, and still wanted to see me shine in a new relationship. They have been my confidants for years and am eternally grateful that they stuck around.
Then I have my mummas who I met through my eldest son. My bestie and I met at our mothers group, both crying with our boobs out and babes refusing at 5 or so months. We held each other’s hands then, and have been holding tight ever since.
Through her I have met some incredible people. Both men and woman. And I will be eternally grateful for their love.
Being aware of who you surround yourself with is of upmost importance. We need people around us who are there for the good times as well as the bad. We all need to surround ourselves with people who build us up. Which in turn means we need to BE people who build others up, so that we are all in a bubble of love and support.
You can’t soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys.
So be an eagle, and encourage others to soar with you x
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