When I was younger, someone once told me a trick for remembering how to spell ‘accommodating’.

‘All you’ve got to do is remember that it’s a big enough word to accommodate two ‘c’s’ AND two ‘m’s’!’

It worked. Whenever I see or hear the word, I think of it as big. Big enough to encompass more than one, but two.

And at the crux of it, that’s also what it means – to accommodate is to provide for more than just yourself. It goes beyond, into another person’s realm and needs.

It’s the voice that says, ‘There’s room here, I’ll just move over a little.’ The hand that reaches out to offer the last piece of cake; or cut it in half to share. The Mum who can always find an extra bed for a surprise guest.

When you accommodate someone – their requests, their desires, their needs, their plans … you give them a home. You’ve made some space. It’s no longer just you in your personal bubble, isolated and protected. There’s a hole for someone else to slip through.

You may have to sacrifice something in order to accommodate something else.

But that’s ok. It’s a big word, and it takes a big person to really embrace it and live it.

That person could be you.

All you have to do is try to …

Be Accommodating