Hey crazy cats! It's another day in beautiful tar-balled filled Tampa Bay!...well, not yet...but soon. I'm having quite a bit of problems thinking of some things to write lately. Then, (today actually) it hit me. Write about your friends!...all 2 of them. Well, if you include all the voices in my head, then we're talking about ...hhmmmmm...maybe 120,000!
Anywho, my entry today is that of how to help out friends who have gone through a rough patch in their lives. Many times, we think we are doing the right thing by tossing out some classic one liners. We've all heard them before..." it will get better", "it wasn't meant to be", or my favorite " look at the bright side".
Do you really think that they want to hear that? The answer is no. I would rather have a person tell me how much they know it sucks to be heartbroken, devastated, or whatever it is. I would rather hear my friend say that it bites, but this is what I did to begin to move on. I don't need Hallmark quotes. We don't need Hallmark quotes.
Recently, I had a nagging feeling that a friend of mine had been going through a problem. I did what a good friend would do. I reached out and contacted him. He responded. It was heartbreaking hearing a really good person going through a tough time.
He is the type of person who is the epitome of the word peaceful. This guy wouldn't even harm a fly. However, he has been going some troubles lately. His patience has been wearing thin. His happiness has become not-so-happy. With all the garbage he has gone through recently, I can't blame him for taking such an approach to the situation.
I, for one, am not going to feed him the stomach-churning nonsense that I spoke about earlier. All one can do is listen. Now that, my friend, is an art in itself. I, personally, prefer someone to hear me out. If they have something to say, let it come from the heart. We don't want to hear nonsense. We want to hear support.
So, back to my friend, he is having some troubles. He has tons of friends who talk to him everyday. He goes to church and his church friends do help him. Unfortunately, he is the only one that is going through stuff. No one can help him, but himself. Only he can help himself.
Sounds harsh huh? That's the way life is, unfortunately. We go through life and go through so much pain. However, life is beautiful. Each tear we shed is like water for our small plant that we're growing ( yes, more analogies).
So what's the moral of the story you may ask. Well... there ain't none. There is only one thing that we can take away from this. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Keep safe and dream big!
