“I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

Edward Everett Hale

Saturday, 14 September 2019

Rising Again

This week's quotation is by Rainer Maria Rilke: "Man muss nie verzweifeln, wenn einem etwas verloren geht, ein Mensch oder eine Freude oder ein Glück. Es kommt alles noch viel herrlicher wieder.


Which being translated, means, "One must never despair, when something is lost - a person or a joy or a happiness. Everything will become more beautiful again."

But it is very natural to despair when something is lost, particularly a person. I think that what Rilke is saying is, however black things may appear at certain times, don't give up, because eventually life will get better.

Which is fine and even comforting, if you're a natural optimist, like I am. But I know that certain friends of mine have a far more bleak outlook on life, and are more pessimistic about eventual outcomes.

I *wish* I could wave a magic wand, and make their pain go away. But I know that I can't.

I have learned that the only thing anyone can do, for someone who is depressed, is to be there with them, not trying to fix them, not trying to cheer them up, not trying to make the pain go away. Just being there, alongside them, so that they know they are not alone.

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May we all be such friends, each to one another.

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