THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR 😊💕

Just about a week ago, I experienced something that I'd never been through before. The sudden disappearance of a very close friend, completely took me by surprise. During the period when desperate attempts were being made to locate him, a whole gamut of emotions were playing havoc with my mind and heart. 

Along with the anxiety, there was the fear of the unknown. There was a tremendous sense of loss, there were feelings of uncertainty, and an overpowering sense of pain. His family and friends kept fearing the worst, but hoping for the best. The lack of definite bad news, constantly gave us hope, that there might be good news in store.

Three days later, his family managed to zero in on his location; and he was brought home. The fact that he was alive and well, was like music to our ears, because we had been longing for some news about his whereabouts for so long. 

The endless waiting during those three days, had been excruciating. I am only a friend, and I found it so difficult to bear the fact that he couldn't be traced. When I think of what his family must have experienced during those moments, it really makes me shudder.😔

When we finally received news that he had been found, I was completely overjoyed. Just the news that he was okay, made me feel like a huge weight was lifted off my heart.

It's been a week now, but I still haven't been able to meet this friend of mine; as he's still recovering from the experience. The joy in my heart though, just knowing that he's well, is indescribable. 

When I think about it, I just begin to wonder, at how some people become our friends sometimes. Till about 6 years ago, I didn't even know, that this person existed on the planet. We haven't been friends for very long; and yet, when he couldn't be found for those three days, I was so troubled. My mind was pre-occupied with thoughts of him, and I couldn't rest in peace, till he had finally been found. I realised, that friendships develop just like that.

Sometimes, in the shortest span of time, a person becomes really dear to you, and the reasons for this are inexplicable. 

In this short time that we've known one another, we've had some fun times, singing together in our choir and at our various outings and parties. We've shared a lot of laughs together, and sung a lot of songs as well. We've listened to endless stories of old times in Calcutta; and about his immense and deep love for music. We've been amazed, watching how talented he is in music; and we've been so proud, to call a little genious like him, our friend. Through every single one of these experiences, we've also grown as friends and our friendship has become special, with every passing day.

Of course, one underlying and deeply painful thought that this incident brings to mind, is the fact that so often, we know so little, about what our closest friends are actually going through in life. At so many times, we may have a faint inkling, that things aren't going too well, with a particular friend; but we can never fully fathom the depth of feelings, that are stirring up inside the minds of our friends, unless they open up a little, and share their life with us. 

An experience like this, made me wish I'd spoken or called more often, or that I'd been more of a friend; but then again, I wonder how much I would have really discovered, even if I had been around for my friend. After all, I would have known, only as much as my friend wanted me to know about his life.

All of us have things, that we don't talk about with everyone. Sometimes, we don't even share certain things, with our closest friends. In moments of crisis, our friends are always there to support us; and yet, we don't always reveal the deepest sentiments of our heart, to them.

Why is it that we human beings, prefer to keep things to ourselves so often? Even though we know that sorrow can be reduced greatly, when shared with a friend; why is it, that we prefer to bottle up our emotions? So many moments of depression and temporary loss of sanity, can be easily avoided, if we only find a friend we can talk to about our problems. Despite the fact that we know these things, why do we still try to be brave and face our problems on our own?🤔

I don't know what my friend was actually going through. I don't know whether I could have really been of any assistance, even if I did know. What I do know though is that henceforth, I'm going to try and be a better friend. I know that as a friend I will always be around a little more. I'm going to try and lend a listening ear, if there's ever a need for it...Maybe my friend may still not pour out his heart to me; but I'm going to make sure that I'm there, cause in the whole scheme of things, that's exactly what friends are for.💕

Thank You Lord for bringing my friend home safe and sound and for protecting him from every harm and danger. I pray that he may recover emotionally and psychologically, from this experience, as soon as possible; and that he may get back to being his bubbly little self once again, as soon as possible. Bless him abundantly in every possible way, and may he always know that he has a large number of friends, who love him very dearly and who want nothing more, than to see him happy.😊

WHAT IS THIS LIFE, SO FULL OF CARE? ✍️

How often have you heard the words, "I'm completely stressed out?" Much too often these days, don't you think? Almost every person we know, seems to be undergoing some kind of stressful situation or another. For a lot of people, the pressure at work seems to be a primary cause of stress, for others, tensions within the family and relationships seem to be a cause of concern. For still others, health related problems seem to be weighing them down completely. All in all, the fast paced over-competitive world we live in, seems to be taking it's toll on every single one of us; and we are definitely paying the price, for trying to fit in.

Those of you, who frequent this part of cyberspace occasionally, would have noticed my absence for a while. The reasons why I suddenly seem to have vanished, could be aptly described by saying, that I too have been completely stressed out and am one of the latest victims of this dreaded modern phenomenon. 

I tried really hard, not to allow the pressures of life to get to me; but like it happens so often, 'the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak'.

Although I was trying my utmost, to let life get back on track, after an unexpected and fairly sudden loss of a loved one; I kept receiving reminders, that we can't just get on with life, without taking the time to rest and recover.

What I've realised in the process, is that so often we over-estimate the capacity of our body, to withstand an avalanche of successive stressful events, in our lives. We think we are capable of facing anything and everything, no matter how grave and severe it may be. In reality however, physically, we may not be as strong as we think we are.

My experiences over the past month or so, have shown me how important rest and relaxation really are, in this fast-paced world we live in. When we choose to disregard the warning signs our body gives us, it manifests itself in so many unimaginable ways. 

The most obvious beneficiaries in this entire situation though, are the doctors, who are ensured a steady flow of stressed out individuals, thanks to the fast-paced world we live in. Ironically, the large amounts of money that one has to shell out, to cover medical expenses these days, is also a significant cause of stress. So strangely, the stress-buster, has partially ended up becoming the generator of stress as well.

For me personally, stress was a result of deep personal loss, a tremendous amount of anxiety, cartloads of never-ending work and an underlying sense of worry, at not being able to fathom, why so many things were going wrong at one and the same time. 

What added to it was the fact, that one thing led to another, without any breathing space in between. Before I could recover from one thing, the second situation was already upon me in a flash, which undoubtedly aggravated an already delicate situation.

A lot of people consider stress, to be a pre-requisite and a necessity, to ensure that one performs to his optimum capacity; because it constantly keeps a person on his toes and doesn't leave any room, for slackness of any kind to seep in. Then again, when it begins to tell on your health, it should definitely act as a wake up call; because that's our body telling us that it has had enough, and we need to slow down, before there is a complete physical or emotional breakdown.

I'm glad I was able to recognise these warning signs at the right time, and act accordingly. With timely medical help and a reasonable amount of rest, I gradually seem to be getting back to normal. I just hope and pray that such health breakdowns do not happen too often, because it sure does affect one's ability to give one's best in every sphere of life. Not to mention, the continuous upheaval of emotions, that completely wreck havoc on one's day to day functioning. 

Truthfully, visiting doctors on a regular basis is not one of my favourite things; but much against my will, I've had to pay a visit to them quite frequently of late. I pray that the 'Doc of all Docs', will finally take hold of the reins of my life, so that things will gradually get back on track; and I can look forward to a better and brighter 2010, in the months ahead. ✍️