Fellow blogger Coach Muller posted this little nugget, Share Your Light, a few months ago and it has stayed with me. It’s a bit hokey, but resonates strongly. We need to be there for each other. We need to be attuned to each other’s needs. Sometimes we need to ask our friends if they’re all right; sometimes we need to be strong enough to tell our friends we’re not all right. Sometimes we need to share our light.
When a flashlight grows dim or quits working, do you just throw it away?
Of course not!
You change the batteries.
When a person messes up or finds themselves in a dark place, do you cast them aside?
Of course not!
You help them CHANGE THEIR BATTERIES.
Some need AA…Attention and Affection
Some Need AAA…Attention, Affection, Acceptance
Some need C…Compassion
Some need D…Direction
And if they still don’t seem to shine…
Simply sit with them and share YOUR LIGHT!
As I reread this piece, Simon and Garfunkel’s 1970 song, Bridge over Troubled Water, came to mind. A song about what friends are for. For those of you too young for this music history, the lyrics are worth a read:
When you’re weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I’ll dry them all
I’m on your side
Oh, when times get rough
And friends just can’t be foundLike a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me downWhen you’re down and out
When you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
I’ll take your part
Oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all aroundLike a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me downSail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
Oh, if you need a friend
I’m sailing right behindLike a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
If this song is before your time, or if you just haven’t heard it for awhile, take a listen.
To my friends everywhere, if you need a friend I’m sailing right behind. ❤ ❤
Source of images: Pinterest
Robby Robin's Journey 
💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jane – this is an amazing coincidence – I heard Bridge Over Troubled Waters this past Monday for the first time in years, and thought – wow – it’s brilliant. Thanks for sharing it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is brilliant, isn’t it! Thanks for adding your support, Jo.
LikeLike
“Sometimes we need to be strong enough to tell our friends we’re not all right.” I’ve been on both sides of the equation. It takes humility to reach out for help. After a few times of being on the receiving end, it has gotten easier to ask for help, when I’m stuck. We all sputter from time to time, anyone that says otherwise is either in denial or lying. I do remember that song! Wishing you Happy Friday from Iowa, Friend! DM
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s always a treat to hear from you, DM. Proud to call you one of my “oldest” blogging friends. Happy Friday to you, too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for this, old friend. Loved the inclusion of all the lyrics of Bridge Over Trouble Water.
LikeLiked by 1 person
💕 They’re timeless, aren’t they!
LikeLike
❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bridge Over Troubled Water is a brilliant tune. I love that analogy of helping people change their batteries. I think I need all of them! 😂 Thanks for sharing Jane 🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL. The good news is that batteries don’t cost that much! Just reach out when you need to, AP2. 🤗
LikeLike
Sometimes just knowing someone else will listen and not judge is so important.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly right, Deb. Sometimes that is so hard for us to realize.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, yes! Where would we be without our friends?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed. ❤
LikeLike
I loved that song as a teen/young adult and still do because it says so much to my heart. Your post speaks volumes as does the Coach!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww, thanks, Rita. You express the feelings that song evokes so well, it speaks to our hearts. ❤
LikeLike
Oh…happy sighs from me to you this morning, Jane. My best friend’s brother learned to play “Bridge” on the guitar as his first full song…and memories of him practicing and the melody wafting through our backyard in the summer? Transported am I. Another place, an innocent time and lyrics that have stuck with me across my entire life. When I hear this Simon & Garfunkel masterpiece, I cry. Not sad, just moved. The line “all your dreams are on their way” gets me every time…instills hope. Thank you so much for this gift this morning! 💕💕💕
LikeLiked by 2 people
THanks, Vicki, I’m so pleased that the thoughts of the song brought back warm memories. The irony is, of course, that Paul Simon wrote it at the height of the Vietnam War, just a few months before the horrific Kent State shootings because of war protests. But you’re right, that’s exactly what Paul Simon was trying to get across, that despite all this there’s hope if we reach out to each other.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did not know that, Jane. Living in Ohio at the time I should’ve put that together. The somberness as the song was sung…not just my emotions. 🤍
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s interesting but not at all surprising that we are all pretty well anchored in the immediate history-in-the-making of our own coming of age and what comes after. I think that song brings meaning to us all, regardless of the personal background we bring to it. It’s a keeper! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah…yes. That makes sense. Thank you again, Jane! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the battery analogy – and how it recognizes that we have different ways to recharge. Beautiful reflection on friendship. Thanks, Jane!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good way of putting it, Wynne. In different times and circumstances we have different needs in how we can recharge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Imagine a world with 8 Billion friends who helped change each other’s batteries. 💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, Rose, what a simply marvelous image. That would be my dream!
LikeLike
Jane, I enjoyed everything about this post. Thanks for including the live version of Bridge Over Troubled Waters, which I happily played. I have a friend who’s very good at just “being”, and I’ve come to really admire that trait. In the five years that I volunteered closely with unhoused women, I grew to understand the importance of being a quiet presence. I love your battery analogy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, Alys. A quiet presence, that is something not enough of us understand. And I can’t think of anything that would bring more value to a community than to volunteer with unhoused women. It must really put things in perspective for you as a volunteer.
LikeLike
The work puts everything in perspective. I’m disheartened though at our inability as communities to sort this out. I live in Silicon Valley, the “land of tech millionaires” yet my city of a million people currently has 6,000 unhoused residents. It’s lack of affordable housing, NIMBYism, poor mental healthcare, and on and on. There has got to be a better way forward.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very interesting, Alys, and, as you say, so very disheartening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I learned the soprano part of that song in isolation during lockdown, when all our choir sessions were on Zoom & we were singing together but apart. It was even more poignant & emotional as we were supporting each other in friendship by singing it, even though we couldn’t hear each other. But the connection was strong & it was there. I’m currently reading an amazing book about friendship so your post is timely 😍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, what a perfect song to have been singing in that context. I would loved to have done that, but as an alto! 😏Were you never able to hear each other? That’s too bad; it would have been so powerful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We could unmute & chat in the break but the few times we sang happy birthday to someone in the group it sounded awful as not synchronised. We were taught how to record ourselves singing a song for a Christmas single, in aid of a mental health charity. It reached no.1 in the download charts & was made up of our combined voices blended together. The song was Keeping the Dream Alive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. Fascinating. But it must have made a big difference during lockdown to be able to do that, as well as being a different kind of learning, singing, and bonding experience.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A lovely post, Jane. I really like the A, AA, AAA, C, D analogy. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Debra. I’m glad I saved it for sharing. 😊
LikeLike