Glory – Great beauty or splendor, that is so overwhelming it is considered powerful.
Your friend is feeling down, so you visit to lift her spirits. You give your friend a gift and they are emotionally moved. You laugh with her every chance you get. Your friend asks you to help achieve something very important to them, and you help if you can. Your friends are a great source of beauty and power in your life. You trust them, you would do anything they would ask.
Do you notice how much your friends are there for you? They see you as a gift to their life. They’re glad when you ask them to join you in your hobbies, your play, or what you believe in. Even if they decline your invitation, they are glad that you thought enough of them to ask. So, if you find a cause you believe in and are supporting, tell your friends. If you want to see something happen and you are working for it. Tell your friends what it means to you.
I have spent countless hours with Carl over the past six years since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I do it because Carl was there for others and because he helped open the meditation center I benefit from. I do it because I would like someone to be there for me and I want people to have the kind of loving care my grandparents had. The net result is a lot of emotional and spiritual benefit for me, the most poignant being when Carl looks at me piercingly and says, “you’re a good friend.”
Being a good friend is the very best thing you can do for yourself and for your friends. With a friend, loneliness is dispersed, pain is dulled, angst is eased. The act of giving to a friend is quickly self-rewarding.
I suggest taking some time to offer friendship to someone for whom it will make a great difference. Visit a nursing home or assisted living home. Adopt an elder, offer companionship, lend an ear and listen. Share yourself and allow them to be your friend.
Experience the glory of friendship.
–David
David Lazaroff is author of Live It Up! 10 Ways to Share Joy When Your Friend Has Alzheimer’s. David coaches family and friends of people with Alzheimer’s Disease in creating a fun and joyful life. Contact david@holistic.com
David is the founder of Holistic Community Living, a Colorado nonprofit founded to operate and teach others to operate neighborhood-based assisted living homes where people can complete their lives with those they love.
