The Unseen Trickle Effect

November is the month of Thanksgiving, and in that spirit, I am going to attempt to resurrect my daily account of moments of AHA. Today was an emotional day, but there were two distinct moments of AHA.

First, a friend came to watch my kids while I had to go out and take care of something. When I got back to the house, my kids went to the in-laws. I spent at least the next 15-20 minutes standing against the front door with my coat still on, crying. Flood gates opened. My friend was still with me, and although I really hate crying in front of others, I just didn't care at that point. She didn't try to say too much to make my pain go away, because she knew she couldn't. She offered a few comments and thoughts, and listened to me. Just having her there somehow made me feel better. And after a bit, I managed to pick up the pieces, dry the tears, and carry on with my evening. If she hadn't been there with me, I don't know how long I would have cried.

The second AHA came via Facebook. A friend that I knew in college had sent me a message. We knew each other in college, had a very large group of mutual friends, and I would consider us to have been friends, but we were never very close. Her message to me tonight was chock full of compliments and she said, "Your path to find happiness has helped me more than you know." That really means a lot.

After reading this, I realized how much of a trickle effect we really can have on others. Part of the point of this blog in the first place was to help me sort through my own feelings and find my strength in AHA. But part of it too, was in hopes of helping someone else realize or learn something that might help them to better deal with their own situations. I am not a therapist of any kind. I don't always know the right things to say to people. I don't always listen as well as I should. But I know what I've felt in going through what I have. And I can say with a decent amount of certainty some of the ways I've handled things have been good and some not so good. I can only hope that my experiences can help someone else.

I have had a solid core of friends who have been helping me all along, and I've been assured that when the time comes, someone else will need me in the same way. I hope that I can live up to the standards that my friends have set. Strength. Courage. Love. We all need them, and we all have them within our grasp. We just have to believe that we can reach them.