And speaking of friends…
I awoke to a personal message on Facebook from someone I first met several years ago. I admire this woman for her strength and integrity. When the going gets tough, she sticks to what’s right rather than following the easier path. But when I met her, she was at a low point. Nothing was going well for her and she was acting out in ways that were causing her friends, family and employers to back away from her. Had I not been being paid to work with her to resolve her resulting legal issues, I can’t imagine I would have given her the time of day. As with most of my clients, however, I tried to deal with the root of the problem – in this case an underlying, treatable health issue – rather than just patching over the life divots and sending her on her way. That was years ago.
This morning, her message told me of a her new position where she making a troubled nursing facility work better. She said: “It has been an honor to have been asked. I just wanted to thank you for all you have done for me. You believed in me while I was considering leaving nursing all together. HUGE THANK YOU!”
We all need someone to believe in us. I’ve been through times when it seemed everyone was pelting stones into the pond of my life to force me out. But all it takes is one person to wade into the pool to assure me I’m not alone and that someone believes in me. I’ve had a lot of stone pelters in my life, but I’ve had the ripples of kindness from the waders as well. And for that, I am grateful.