One Is The Loneliest Number

Let’s face it, life can be lonely, even when you are surrounded by family and friends that love and support you. All of us have been there from time to time and some go through most of their life feeling lonely — even in the midst of people who want to help them.

My personal health journey is well documented — I have always been very open with what I’m going through. And, I hope that along the way I have been able to help someone else in a similar situation. I’m doing fine, my treatments seem to be doing what they want them to do, but yet even in the midst of good news there can sometimes be lonely times.

I have friends who are suffering from cancer, chronic health issues or personal situations and I know that they must sometimes feel the same way I do — as if the problems are bigger than we are, that the worries of life just want to consume you and sap the joy out of life.

A wise pastor (now Todd’s going to get the big head) keeps telling me that I’m just human. He says, when I start doubting or getting down, that it is human nature to have feelings like that and that I can’t beat myself up too much. That’s a hard thing for most people to admit.

When life is wearing you down, there are going to be times that you want to have your little “pity party” and get to feeling sorry for yourself. But at that point in time, you have a couple of options. You can stay there or you can change your attitude.

I’m not here to say that changing that attitude is easy, because it’s not. And, it isn’t something that comes with a timeline. You can’t say, “Well I’m going to stay here feeling sorry for myself for a couple of days and will then move on.” It doesn’t work that way.

But, even I, with my oftentimes weak faith, recognize that God puts people in our path to lift us up during our dark times. We just have to be receptive when those moments happen and know that God is in control.

I had a couple of those times last week. As I said, my news is good but, yet, I was down and the next thing I know, God sends messengers into my life seemingly out of nowhere to say just what I needed to hear at that moment.

Those times don’t happen without design. I know that many people just feel that those things are happenstance and random. But, for those that have faith, we know that God is in control — even when we think we know better than He what we need in life.

But remember, this process works both ways — we sometimes need to be lifted up and sometimes we need to lift others up. That’s how life works. We just have to be open to help when we need help and to be ready to help when others are in need. That is a life of faith that all of us need to live up to.