Pull Up A Chair…

[babylonsister]

http://firedoglake.com/2008/03/08/pull-up-a-chair-89/

Pull Up A Chair…
By: Christy Hardin Smith Saturday March 8, 2008 5:14 am

snip//

There are things important to all of us. Things we want to do. Things we want to say. People we love, that we don't say that to nearly enough. Causes for which our hearts are committed...but our efforts don't match our enthusiasm. That extra mile that we could go, but don't. That lingering kiss we could plant...but haven't. The beauty we miss by not bothering to look, every single day.

The elderly couple that I was talking about? The wife had tears in her eyes as they finished, so I'm guessing they got bad news from the doctor. And as they paused at the door to put on their jackets, I just wanted to help them somehow, but had no idea what to do. He helped her on with her coat, she smoothed down his collar and absentmindedly tucked in his tag at the neck. Then he took her hand, and pulled it through the crook of his arm, and lovingly patted it with his free hand before reaching with it for the door to head out to the parking area.

And then they were gone.

That question of how to help has lingered since then, and so I'm passing this forward: whatever it is that you have been meaning to do -- for yourself, for your family, for someone you love, for someone who needs your hand up -- don't wait.

There has been a lot of divisive back and forth the last few weeks, some of it strident and bitter, some just plain angry or stupid or both. But in the end, none of it matters if we do not all sit up and start to realize that we are all -- all of us -- in this together. Our fate is tied to the ones closest to us, and those closest to them, and so on and so forth across the entirety of our nation and our world. We are all in this together. We have to find a way to get through this together.

If one of us sinks, we all begin to drown. If one of us starves, we all are less because of it. If one of us is beaten or hurt or put down, we feel that loss as though it is our own because a light in this world is diminished as that spirit is dimmed, and we all walk in a little more darkness as a result.

So, reach out to someone today. Listen to your own voice. Take the time to really see the beauty that surrounds you. Really see it. You never know what may be just around the corner for you, and it shouldn't take a scare like mine to wake you up to the fact that life is how you live it in the now, not what you want to do with it someday. Don't wait. But do pull up a chair...

[Snarkoleptic]

1. Great post...thanks for redirecting us to what's important!

[Lochloosa]

2. ..

:toast:

[mia]

3. Thanks for your post - it reminded me of a song.

http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20020522.atc.humphries.13.ram


ARTIST: Pat Humphries
TITLE: Swimming to the Other Side


{Refrain}
We are living 'neath the great Big Dipper
We are washed by the very same rain
We are swimming in the stream together
Some in power and some in pain
We can worship this ground we walk on
Cherishing the beings that we live beside
Loving spirits will live forever
We're all swimming to the other side


I am alone, and I am searching
Hungering for answers in my time
I am balanced at the brink of wisdom
I'm impatient to receive a sign
I move forward with my senses open
Imperfection, it be my crime
In humility I will listen
We're all swimming to the other side

{Refrain}

On this journey through thoughts and feelings
Binding intuition, my head, my heart
I am gathering the tools together
I'm preparing to do my part
All of those who have come before me
Band together and be my guide
Loving lessons that I will follow
We're all swimming to the other side

{Refrain}

When we get there we'll discover
All of the gifts we've been given to share
Have been with us since life's beginning
And we never noticed they were there
We can balance at the brink of wisdom
Never recognizing that we've arrived
Loving spirits will live together
We're all swimming to the other side

{Refrain}

[housewolf]

4. Sweet...

Thanks for posting. This is a great reminder. Appreciate it.