Are you a mentor or a mentee? If so, I am sure that you know how mentoring relationships can be formed. Most times it is because someone has seen your career or life path, they believe that you are successful and in some way they want to imitate what they see. That in itself is a truly humbling experience. Something that of course should never be taken lightly because, well you know, someone believes that your experiences and journey will help them get to where they want or need to be in some area of their life. As you know mentoring relationships can be short lived or they can last for years. There is one thing for sure. If the mentor/mentee relationship is a healthy one, your mentee WILL outgrow you. Not because there is nothing else that they can learn from you but because well what they needed at that appointed time, they have received. Now they are possibly in the position to mentor themselves and/or mentor others. If you and your mentee or mentor have a relationship where you talk every day, it may not be easy to see the growth because you are talking to each other day in and day out. To you it is normal communication and life is moving along. However, there will be signs to let you know that growth has happened and your services may no longer be needed in the way they were initially. Here are some ways that I have noticed the mentor/mentee relationship has grown and my services as a mentor may not be needed anymore. 1. You see a change in the way they respond to things that would usually get them upset or bent out of shape. Where they used to be short tempered, it has now been replaced with patience. 2. They answer their own questions. What used to be a question and answer session is now a discussion on what happened and how they handled a certain situation. 3. The mentee has a new sense of independence. This is where the mentee has now taken on a role where they feel they are more knowledgeable than you or they have better solutions for any scenarios that may arise. They have had an awakening where they no longer need your advice and they make decisions on their own and fill you in later. For some the list above may be hard to deal with. For others, you may see where you fit in the picture and decide to step back so the mentee can lead the way on their journey. Whatever the situation is know that it is all a part of God’s plan. We are all meant to be in one another’s life for a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV), To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven).
Sis, Thank God for the opportunity that He gave you to be a part of someone’s growth/journey or life no matter how it ends.
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