Lonely no More
“I was a leader of a Boy Scout Troop not long ago,” Bryan started. “It was a time when the loneliness epidemic was just beginning.”
One of his scouts was also just past the beginning of an ongoing, potentially devastating family crisis. It was an unquestionable life changing period for this teenaged boy. Bryan could have simply left the young man to deal with the challenge alone. But, he decided not to. And, the right opportunity to pull the boy deeper into connection with the troop was possible as a result of an upcoming camping expedition.
“I felt our troop could make a difference for him. So, I went to his house to pick him up for the trip. I didn’t want this dear friend to be alone with his grief, when he could be with us to feel our supporting bond.”
Bryan didn’t tell any of the other boys anything about what was happening in their friend’s life. He simply extended the refuge of the troop around the one person who needed support in a very personal way.
“Once we were all set up and had the camp in order I started looking around. You know, taking an inventory of the boys. I noticed, the one scout I had especially reached out to, was nowhere to be found! So, I decided to go about quietly, to see if I could find him. I didn’t want to make a stir or a sensation,” Bryan explained.
Bryan went weaving through the trees for very short time when he spotted the boy off and out a little way ahead. He was there, up and off the trail, alone with his grief. The young man had finally, fully surrendered to his natural grief and had sought solitude to release his pent-up emotions. And, that wasn’t all Bryan saw.
While scanning the surrounding forest he also observed the other boys sheltered amongst the trees. They were all standing there, clumped together as if they were of one, unique and exceptional variety of blending-in-vegetation, bearing witness to their friend’s personal moment. And, they were unmoving. They instinctively let their friend have his needed moment of solitude.
“I was so proud of them and was equally amazed by their sensitivity at an age where most would have thought them to be thoughtless and self-centered. Yet, there they were, doing the right thing at the right moment for the right person,” Bryan said with tears welling in his eyes at the memory.
Then, his eyes were filled with a luster again as he remembered the moment when the mourner had finished expelling his emotions, came back to camp, and found his friends there waiting for him. The troop came to him in an instant, without knowing the source of his grief, and embraced him with greetings of, “We’re glad you’re here. We’ve been wondering where you went.”
As Bryan watched his scouts acting as true friends, as well as adhering to their apothegm of loyalty, he rejoiced within himself saying, “Lonely no more!”
_______________________________________________
I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Both Sides of the Fence, About the Dish, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14AsoipiePjMdj7ds-f80BAGFyGWst-em/view?usp=sharing
No comments:
Post a Comment