“She’s not eating, not sleeping, and is throwing her food at the nurses.”

A Case For Love – Part. 1

“She’s not eating, not sleeping, and is throwing her food at the nurses.”

That’s what I heard was happening with my dearest of friends after she had spent 3 days at a psychiatric hospital in North Carolina. The doctors said she was starting to show signs of psychosis.

“Can you go see her?” Asked my friend Mike on the phone Monday night.

“I can’t, I have such a busy week with so many responsibilities to deliver” I responded, in spite of the shock, as I saw myself very limited to do so with an agenda for the week that was bursting at the seams.

And just like that, I was gonna let my dear friend continue to fight her lonely battle by herself. Thank heavens for my friend Mike. Because my next thought was “Wait a minute, what am I doing?? What matters more than her right now? I need to be there with her!”

I thank Mike, and for the next hour I proceed to communicate with everyone that I have commitments with for the week. I openly share what is happening with my dear friend, who happens to be one of the most important people in my life, and my concern for her. To my surprise, across the board, everyone is extremely encouraging that I go and be there with her.

“I just don’t wanna have any regrets, you know?” I said with my voice cracking to my business partner over the phone at 10 o’clock at night.

“Of course. You need to be there. Don’t worry about anything in the office.” he responded.

“Will you be able to handle the interviews on Wednesday?”

“Dude, just go!”

“Thank you T, I really appreciate you.” I said, as I pulled out my suitcase from the closet.

As I get ready for a 12 hour drive over night and pack for an indefinite trip, the messages of love, support and well wishes, continue to pour in.

This was a new experience for me. In these busiest of times, I had not ever imagined that I could spend one hour making calls and sending emails and text messages to responsibly free up my entire week, or even my entire schedule indefinitely. I was moved by the love and support that my community offered me.

“Call me anytime, even if it’s just to talk!”

“Don’t hesitate to reach out!”

“I’ll leave my phone on through the night!”

“I will handle your prospect meetings!”

“We got you covered!”

“If you need absolutely anything, let me know!”

“I’m here for you.”

It wasn’t just me anymore. In all those conversations, we all were left present to what Life is really about.

While the news about my dear friend had me concerned and worried, I felt that I stood atop a mountain of love and support with a huge gratitude and appreciation for every single one of those people in my life who were willing to take on whatever was necessary in order for me to go be with her.

I think that like me, many of us have forgotten our true communal nature. We often do life as lone-rangers. When facing big challenges, we seclude ourselves, sometimes even ashamed or embarrassed that we are going through that particular situation, as if it shouldn’t be.

It was against my ordinary behavior to accept many of those offers, let alone reach out to everyone to clear up my whole week in the first place.

It wasn’t the first time someone told me “Call me anytime”, I just never did. I always imagined people said that as a formality. It seems that our default ordinary identities are very cynical.

I invite you to look in your own life and find where you have been stopped by cynicism and passed on opportunities to experience more love and connection in your life.

I invite you to reach out to that person with whom one of you said “We need to catch up soon!” and you never did.

I invite you to allow others to contribute to you. Be vulnerable. It’s in these moments where you will experience your deepest connection with others. Who knows, perhaps that’s the reason why the design of life includes pain and anguish to begin with…

Either way, the sweet surprise is that you will leave them greater as well for having done so.

Our Nature is to be there for one another.

Our Nature is Love.