Encouraging Words

Last night I had a conversation with James. He and I go back to our teenage years(more than 30 years). James is one of the people I’ve known the longest that I still communicate with on a semi-regular basis. Ours is a friendship which, no matter how much time has elapsed since our last conversation, we continue as if no time’s elapsed.

He’s having a challenging time at the moment. This year in particular is one of his most challenging. The same as the summer 2016 til summer 2017 for myself. We spoke for nearly an hour. I did my best to offer words of encouragement. To let him know whatever’s happening now is temporary. Be it health, family, financial, it’s all temporary. We talked about some of the events I’ve emerged on the other side of and I reminded him of some of the events he’s emerged on the other side of.

I shared some of my experiences. I told it’s temporary. “If you realize you’re in hell...keep moving.” Winston Churchill offered that quote and I passed it along to James. His spirits seemed a bit lifted but I am aware he’s still bearing a seemingly unbearable burden.

I offered to him what others have done for myself with hopes that positive words and possible solutions would offer some semblance of hope, some light at the end of the tunnel. We’ll see how much stronger he emerges on the other side of this experience.

Today, Wednesday, October 9, 2019, I am grateful that:

I was able to reach out and talk to James. The older I get the more important long term relationships have become. It’s vital to maintain those relationships spanning decades as there simply aren’t many in existence.

I’m making some progress on my next titles. It’s a challenging task and I’ve never engaged in writing multiples titles simultaneously but it’s my current objective.

I’ve made a personnel decision. Instead of continuing to ask for referrals from friends I’ve acquired here, I’ll use the site I’ve had success with in the past. It’s not the idea I had when I departed the States nearly a year ago but it’s worked in the past and I don’t see any reason preventing its success at present.

Be Encouraging. Be Impactful!