The Power of friendship and Love

I know there are people all over the world who are dying, suffering, experiencing pain .  But today I choose to be happy!

I am meeting my best friend for lunch today.  And when I say "best", I honestly mean BEST!!  Rose-Marie has been in in my Life for the past 10 years.  She's my big sister, my friend and at times my biggest ally.  She always stood by me, even though at times I was all but polite to her.  She's seen me angry, happy and sad.  But whetever mood I was in and whatever situation in Life, she was always my friend in need.  KNowing she loves me unconditionally has kept me going when times were hard.

My dad is coming out of hospital today!  I am sooooo happy both for him as for my family.  Ten weeks ago he was taken into casualty with the life span of one hour.  "If he makes it through the next hour, he might make it through the night".  The next week was touch and go with only my mum allowed in to visit for 10 minutes, 3 times a day.  After a week the doctors told us to prepare for a funeral.  He was not going to make it.  The news was heartbreaking especially for my mum and my daughter.  I took them to a cosy café in town and both my mum and me needed two strong Irish Coffees to settle our nerves.  Later that night my daughter tried to end her Life too.  Thanks to the Goddess od Love, I walked in the room at the right time.

Since that moment things changed.  Did my dad feel what was going on, although no one told him?  Did he sense my daughters pain?  Was his Love for us so deep he just sensed what was going on?

At that moment n time he made the decision TO LIVE, no matter what enyone else around him said.

A few days later he move to a private ward and the sparkle in his eye returned.  Friends who visited him noticed this too and started making plans.  One friend invited him to be part of an exhibition later this year and dad said yes.  Another friend offered him a huge tree trunk.  Dad was over the moon.  New ideas for a sculpture building in his mind.

When I was finally allowed to visit him and asked: "So what's the news"?  He said: "out of here as soon as possible.  I need to paint my granddaughters portrait" and smirked.

Is it unconditional Love for his granddaughter that kept him going?  What is it that made this magical change in him?

What is it that keeps you going?  When days look grim and there's pain inside of you...

I want to share a beautiful poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.


It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.


It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.


I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.


I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.


It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.


I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.


I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”


It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.


It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.


It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.


I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Do you?  Can you?
My darling friends, enjoy the Love all around you and have a great weekend!