I'm Not Alone

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with some people about one of my favorite things in the whole world - peanut butter. I was lamenting the continued absence of my brand of choice - Peter Pan reduced fat crunchy. In fact, there is no Peter Pan to be found of any type. I know I've ranted about this before, but this has got to stop. I need my peanut butter. I haven't found any other brand that I like.

An interesting thing happened. In the small group of about twenty that I was speaking to, several heads began to nod in sympathy, no make that empathy. We all shared our frustration with the long wait we are enduring for the creamy crunchy nectar of heaven made by Peter Pan to return to the shelves. They too had tried other brands and the other brands had come up short. I learned I was not alone. The five or six of us continued to talk off to the side about our woes with regards to our forced abstinence from one of our favorite foods.

It is good to discover you are not alone in your suffering, especially in more serious matters. After suffering through occupational burnout and a near nervous breakdown, I was surprised and relieved to discover just how many of my colleagues had gone through similar experiences. Even though I was well into my recovery at the time, it was encouraging to learn that my experience was somewhat normal. It is always amazing to watch the look on someone's face when they are sharing their troubles and someone else comes along and says, "Me too!"

I've said this before, but it's worth saying a thousand more times, this is one of the reasons you should never journey alone. We need to find others that will journey along the path of faith with us. They will be able to say, "Me too!" when times get hard and their experiences can become learning tools and support for us. We can "pay it forward" by doing the same for someone else down the road. Everyone benefits when they do it together. Just a thought.