Stress Buster #3: That’s Enough About You . . .

BEING LONELY IS NOT GOOD FOR ANYONE. Wanting to be around others, but not being able to, shortens life—and makes what there is of it seem miserable. At the least, it’s a sure route to depression and hopelessness.

A LOT OF PEOPLE think they’ll win friends and cheer themselves up at the same time by recounting their achievements. They reason past successes will make them feel better about themselves. Worse, they think this will show others what is admirable about them and why others should want them as friends. Don’t they know we identify friends by shared shortcomings? Who wants a perfect friend?

THESE POOR, ISOLATED PEOPLE are the very ones who buttonhole me when I least expect it and hammer me with a barrage usually delivered in breathless fashion, as if I might dare to interrupt their flow with a similar experience of my own. Even my very Southern, “how nice,’ doesn’t provide the hint that I am not interested in seeing how long the conversation can remain one-sided.

I WANT TO SAY TO THEM, “Get on your knees. Count your blessings. Quit taking credit for what God has lavished on you!” But, I can’t interrupt them, even when I try.

THEY CAN’T SEE THAT GRATITUDE is the path to friendship. Nothing is more attractive. Envy can’t co-exist with it. Neither can self-aggrandizement.

WHEN THEY’RE THE RECIPIENTS of all these gifts, how can they feel like anything except the beloved child they are? How can any of us?

THIS IS WHAT THE LONELY MISS. We are each God’s most beloved child, and he showers each of us with blessings too numerous to count. We’re brothers and sisters. Family. None of us is more blessed than another in the eyes of our Father. Recognizing that draws to us all the friends we could ever want.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing.