So, I got published on PositivelyPositive.com, which is a great site. They publish some terrific authors and post consistently good content. It was a huge honor to see my post on their site.
What I didn’t expect was the response I received. Sure, I hoped my friends, family and fellow bloggers would jump in with some “likes” on Facebook and maybe a comment on their site, but I didn’t expect strangers, lots and lots of strangers, to comment and message me. Days after my original post, I am still getting comments, “likes,” shares, tweets from people all over the world.
Some people who are commenting have been without a home, and one man is without a home now. Others have a different situation but have been afraid to ask for help. Still others felt like they were blessed to realize they had something, even on their worst day, to share with another person…and some felt like they had nothing to give, nothing to offer. I have tried to comment and respond to every post I’ve seen this week.
I feel the love, the spark, the resonance. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
It was a hard post to write because it was a time in my life that was totally uncomfortable and largely unhappy about many things. I had not yet gotten to the point where I realized I had control over my reactions, my feelings, and that I didn’t have to wallow in the hurts, so it’s a yucky time to visit, even in memory.
I have decided that bit by bit, it’s okay to tell these stories. Telling my stories might help someone else. There is a tremendous feeling of isolation when things are going terribly wrong in life, a feeling of failure and that no one else could possibly understand what you are going through…but the truth is, someone out there understands. That someone who understands might not be in your inner circle, so it is okay to reach out and be honest about what’s going wrong…but I would also challenge you to remember what is going right. If you are alive, that is at least one thing that is going right.
Thank you, friends both new and old, for allowing me to share my stories.