We must be careful not to burn bridges, especially those we have to cross back over to get where we need to go. If we burn the bridge that we think we don’t need, think again, we might need it sooner than we think.
A while back I reached out to one of my professional relationships for an appointment. I had been making appointments with them for many years. I called and left a voicemail, called again, and left a message with the receptionist. I called the contact directly twice and texted them all within 3 days and got no reply or response for an appointment.
I was a little butt hurt due to I didn’t feel they valued me as a customer enough to return my call, text, or give me an appointment. The old me would’ve stewed, brewed, and held that for a while. The new me allowed what it was because I couldn’t change it or control it and I moved on with full confidence that they had lost a loyal customer.
Those 3 days, I thought about the length of my service to them, my loyalty in supporting them through thick and thin while they struggled in business, my referrals, and the fact that I held them in high regard. I thought they needed me to cross to the other side but now that they are on the other side, the other side of being in a more comfortable and better place, they no longer need me as a bridge to cross over.
When people use you as a bridge, a stepping stone to get to the other side they never think they may need to come back. Take it from my personal experience, you can fall down a lot faster than you can climb up. If it took bridges and stones to get where you’re going then it will take bridges and stones to come back if you fail, don’t make it, need those people again. Folks don’t think that way. They think for the moment, the minute, and don’t ever think they will need you again.
I’ve done it! I’ve burned bridges, blown them up to ashes, and guess what I had to eat crow, apologize, crawl over broken glass and be humble to get back across the bridge. You don’t build bridges in a day. It will always cost you more to get a new bridge than it does to maintain one. I don’t care how big, famous, important, busy you become don’t blow up the bridge that you may need to cross back over one day. If that bridge helped you get to the other side be grateful enough to maintain it just in case you need to cross back over it again.
Dealing to Healing 