Getting By With Friends

Currently, many of my friends are in various stages of hurt or alarm or fear or struggle. It's almost as though the Universe is calling upon us to realign our very selves. [Which may indeed be the case, but that's for a different post.]

Some of my friends need to move ~ from one coast to another; from one town to another; from one country to another. Each move is calling forth vastly different strengths from these folks.... and from their friends.

Some of my friends struggle with aging and dying parents ~ arranging hospice; supervising trips and moves; sitting beside them as they breathe their last; organizing memorials. So many different ways to do and be with those changes.

Some of my friends face their own health issues ~ knee replacements; stents; diabetes; broken bones; hypertension. The lists of these can go on and on; and eventually will.

As we go through these issues, these stresses, we have the opportunity to reach out to each other, to be a support and to have support. It's most difficult when we think we can handle it all alone. Or we think no one else cares. Or we think asking means we are weak. Our self-judgement makes us forget what John Lennon so wonderfully sang: I get by with a little help from my friends. We need each other. Community is what provides support, and we are that community.

These are each and all things I need to remember myself!

What is going on in your life that could be eased by connecting with a friend? How could you ease a friend's way through a troubled time? Why is it important to you to do that?