Learning to Share at 23

You’d think that at 23, I’d have learned how to share my things with other people. The concept of sharing was taught to me by my parents when I was younger…but I only learned to do so with my family. When it comes to sharing with family, there is no hesitation on my part. We share food, clothes, and possessions without question and I never sit and calculate who has shared more of what. However, when it comes to sharing with people outside of my family, I am very calculative and sometimes I have to remind myself that sharing is necessary in order to form relationships!

Take, for example, my bf….being with him really challenges my ability to share. He is very generous and loving and often tells me that whatever is his is mine too. I’m more of the “what’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine” type. It took him by surprise when he tried to eat something off my plate once and I objected! LoL. It was an honest reaction that surprised the both of us. Being with him has really shown me how sharing can be really nice…and I’m learning… I have to realize that eventually, the things that we possess will be shared with each other…we’ll have to make decisions together and I’m not the only one who possesses the power to say yes or no. (Trust me, this was a huge revelation).

Living with roommates further challenged my ability to share. Living with Laurie was great – she was a wonderful roommate who taught me a lot about sharing as well. I think sometimes she found it ridiculous that I would ask to drink some of her milk if mine ran out. She always gave me that “Are you kidding me? Why are you even asking” look that always made me feel like I was too calculative with my own things. When you’re living with other people, you definitely learn different lessons along the way and Laur taught me a lot about not just sharing with friends... but sharing with people in general.

There are certain things that I think you SHOULDN'T share... for hygienic reasons of course. Take, for example, my current roommate who thinks he can help himself to wearing my flip-flops. Our basement has been torn up so we can’t really walk down there with bare-feet. The first day he was there, I offered him my flip-flops because he was wearing white socks… but since then, he has taken them and worn them down there everyday… even AFTER I told him to wear his own shoes.. he insists that mine are easier to slip on. Now… come on.

I’m learning to share, I swear I am…but it’s definitely a challenge…. Ugh.