Good Advice

Having a slow day at work today has allowed me to catch up on my reading - both my professional journals and some more fun reading. I am currently reading a novel about Vincent Van Gough and loving it, but I am not one of those people who can read a novel with background noise. Due to the fact I don't work in a clinic alone, I often need lighter reading. I love to work-out and try to eat as healthy as possible (while allowing for as much Mexican food as I can eat) so I have been reading the various fitness and health magazines. My husband and I are always working on some project with the house or yard so I have been reading home and garden magazines as well. I have learned a great deal of interesting facts today, but there are two articles that had points that really hit home.

The first was "if someone thinks of you as a friend, you become one". This seems like such a simple statement, but it was looking at friendship in a way I never had. I have a wonderful new friend who is more similar to me than most people/friends in my life, which has given me a great support system and helped me to grow and challenge myself as a person. Honestly though, I think that if she had not first thought of me as a friend, this amazing person may not have become a part of my life. I thought that it was harder to make new friends as an adult and that it was harder to cultivate a new relationship when life seemed so busy already, but she has shown me that isn't the case. I am glad that she was outgoing enough to think of me as a friend or I might have missed this opportunity.

The second was about listening and why it is important to be heard. It stated that "we need someone to witness our lives, because being witnessed diminishes the solitude we all live with". Again, I thought this was a powerful statement and it reminded me that no matter how busy my life gets, I need to always be able to stop and listen. Some days at work and at home there are so many things going on, that I may hear the words people are saying, but I don't listen to their hearts and what the words actually mean. This was just one of those gut check sentences that reminded me that I should never be too busy to really listen, because it is one of the best gifts you can provide to those people in your life.