Mentor/Mentored
Raw thought bubbling in my mind. Concepts and theorems yet unresolved. Topics that have been brewing on the back burner for weeks. What follows is surely unstructured and unorganized, but may be interesting too. This describes some of the heart of my blogging.
So, mentor relationships. The surest way to know when mentoring is as complete as it will get, is the point when the mentored desires to give back to the mentor in an emotional form. In a mentor/mentored relationship it's a given that the mentor will give emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and in knowledge and wisdom. All because of their greater maturity, understanding, and desire to help a young sprout grow. The mentored usually acknowledges this fact, but doesn't really understand the ramifications, and as such, craves this relationship in which the other side is only to happy to give obligingly. What's important to know is that no relationship apart from mentor/mentored should be like this. It's unrealistic. Some of us do have a relationship with Jesus Christ that is a permanent mentor/mentored relationship as our lifestyle, because Jesus Christ will always have more for us than we can imagine.
Eventually though, the mentored should wake up. Realizing just how much the mentor has given them, and though still desiring to spend much time with the mentor, the mindset is not one explicitly of taking. Love just doesn't continue as a one-way street. It becomes two-way and grows stronger, or disappears.
As one mentored, I say that upon waking up, the desire to give to the mentor becomes stronger than the desire to be mentored. The problem is that the whole reason the relationship existed was because the mentor had much to give to a mentored that can't be returned. Emotional, mental, and spiritual stability, knowledge, wisdom. It can be painful to wish to give, and think that there is nothing to give that the mentor does not already have.
Here's the truth though, being a mentor is an empowering and uplifting experience. Because you are more stable in your emotions and etcetera than the one you are mentoring, it is a joy to watch them grow. They give your life more purpose, They share their life with you, and their perspective on things, giving you the vigorous and stubborn life of youth. You that have been mentored (I speak to myself as well here), though you now love your mentor as they love you, know that you need not pain over the desire to give back. Your growth, and greater purpose in their life, is the biggest gift you could ever give them. And it's already been given.
More raw thought next week.
So, mentor relationships. The surest way to know when mentoring is as complete as it will get, is the point when the mentored desires to give back to the mentor in an emotional form. In a mentor/mentored relationship it's a given that the mentor will give emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and in knowledge and wisdom. All because of their greater maturity, understanding, and desire to help a young sprout grow. The mentored usually acknowledges this fact, but doesn't really understand the ramifications, and as such, craves this relationship in which the other side is only to happy to give obligingly. What's important to know is that no relationship apart from mentor/mentored should be like this. It's unrealistic. Some of us do have a relationship with Jesus Christ that is a permanent mentor/mentored relationship as our lifestyle, because Jesus Christ will always have more for us than we can imagine.
Eventually though, the mentored should wake up. Realizing just how much the mentor has given them, and though still desiring to spend much time with the mentor, the mindset is not one explicitly of taking. Love just doesn't continue as a one-way street. It becomes two-way and grows stronger, or disappears.
As one mentored, I say that upon waking up, the desire to give to the mentor becomes stronger than the desire to be mentored. The problem is that the whole reason the relationship existed was because the mentor had much to give to a mentored that can't be returned. Emotional, mental, and spiritual stability, knowledge, wisdom. It can be painful to wish to give, and think that there is nothing to give that the mentor does not already have.
Here's the truth though, being a mentor is an empowering and uplifting experience. Because you are more stable in your emotions and etcetera than the one you are mentoring, it is a joy to watch them grow. They give your life more purpose, They share their life with you, and their perspective on things, giving you the vigorous and stubborn life of youth. You that have been mentored (I speak to myself as well here), though you now love your mentor as they love you, know that you need not pain over the desire to give back. Your growth, and greater purpose in their life, is the biggest gift you could ever give them. And it's already been given.
More raw thought next week.
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