I’m so lucky! Today I had the opportunity to pay a debt I have owed to the ones who have held me, lifted me up, supported me, and reminded me that I am enough just as I am. I have a friend who is feeling irrelevant because she has been ill lately, and so she says she is not contributing to the world like she used to. I remember someone telling me once that it was okay to take a sick day or three, because I always went above and beyond, and that just maybe it was time to let work carry me for a bit. That little bit of permission and perspective was all I needed to spend some time putting myself back at the top of my priority list. And yes, all sorts of things got better after that.
There were other times, too. During the “Flizzard” in Fargo-Moorhead in the winter of 1996-1997, my house flooded. A friend told me that just maybe this was God’s way of letting me know that receiving help is as important as giving it. It had nothing to do with asking for help; it was about letting others show me how much they cared by whatever act of kindness they offered me. Amen.
I hope my friend who is feeling irrelevant finds her way back to making meaning, not just making a life. 
She has taken on a lot lately, and I know others are depending on her. She’s the kind of woman who will keep on keeping on as long as she can, but I plan to help her see the light another way, by reminding her that she is enough all by herself. It may not exactly fit her situation, but when she said she felt irrelevant, this quote came to mind.
It makes me happy to be able to help…even if she doesn’t see it that way right now. She chose me to confide in, and that is all the entre I need to make her my mission right now.