I thought about the idea of being alone a lot this morning as I sat in Heathrow terminal 3 waiting for my flight to America. Though I’m meeting friends along the way, much of my trip is ‘alone’. I’m probably the biggest wimp going so I was wondering why I wasn’t scared.
As I found myself smiling to myself (partly because I was eating pizza for breakfast and food generally makes me happy, but partly out of appreciation) I realised that actually I am never alone. I was continually receiving texts from friends and family sharing love and wishing me a fabulous trip which helps to get rid of any loneliness, but I soon realised that this isn’t needed to know how far from alone I always am.
I always have the wonderful memories, both recent and more distant, to think about and cherish. I’m surrounded by so many people and we share so much love for one another, so much that it doesn’t need to be expressed. I’m both supported and a support by and to so many people also. The excitement of returning to all of the wonderful, familiar faces in two months will only grow stronger and I’ll have so many stories to share. These are things that no time or distance can ever take away and I fully realise how lucky I am.
Not only do the brilliant people in my life help me to never feel alone, strangers do also. It takes only a smile at someone on the subway, a shared smirk to someone who’s thinking on the same wavelength. Perhaps you help someone who is even more clueless than you are, but you are never alone.
So, as I continued my voyage to my first destination in New York city, stomach churning from time to time both through excitement and one or two nerves, I thought long and hard about this network of support and love that I have surrounding me and hope that I contribute to many others, strangers included.
I hope this applies to everybody reading this. If ever you feel a bit ‘on your own’ and you may well be, physically, but not really. It takes a text or a call to a loved one, a browse down old messages or photos, a thought about the memories both distant and near, a smile to a stranger on the street who smiles straight back, or when you lend a helping hand.
Never feel alone, we all have people who need us and we need them too.