"WE'RE ALL ALONE AND NOW I'M SINGING THIS SONG FOR YOU..."

“CAUSE WE’RE ALONE AND I AM SINGING THIS SONG FOR YOU…

We are not helpless we are [human]

What lies between us

It can be set aside and ended …
All are strangers, all are friends…

Open up my friend and learn to hear …

If you cannot let yourself be known by anyone

Then you are hiding and not whole… All are strangers, all are friends, all are brothers …

Paraphrased from Stephen Stills, We Are Not Helpless

Dear Reader,

Over the two and a half years I’ve been writing this column I’ve addressed questions and/or commented on a wide range of subjects from the mundane, or even silly, to the downtrodden and uplifting -- ending pretty much always with the grateful and inspirational.  I find myself confronted in my day-to-day living with joy, sorrow, deprivation, longing, fulfillment, hope and plenty.  For me a solid answer to any problem that presents itself is that there is help to be found.  I live in that confidence.  Perhaps it’s a false confidence and for certain it’s not a confidence available to everyone everywhere.  But here in my community and for me this confidence is valid.   But you know what?  In just the last few weeks, with the old year ending and the new one upon us I have met with each of the following statements made by people who suffer much from a sense of “not enough to go around.”  I have heard you, dear reader, say:

“I am so alone.” “I am so afraid.” “I have no income.” “I have no health insurance.” “I feel such rage.” “My child is abusive.”  “I am in danger.”  “I have no work, no home and no family.”  “I have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder but I will not take medicine or accept therapy.”  “I have Alzheimer’s but I have no one to care for me but I just can’t see spending money to pay for assistance.”

You have said these words to me because you know I will listen.  You know I will care.  I’ve said and felt many of these things myself in my lifetime and am not immune in my future.  You have not asked me to help you and you have not asked for my advice.  But since I have the privilege of writing this column and because I very much want your health and well-being I researched a few websites that might provide a starting place toward you moving beyond helplessness and in the direction of hope and help.

http://www.abct.org/Home/   Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)

http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Gestalt-therapy.html   Information on Gestalt Therapy in The Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders

http://www.namihelps.org/   National Alliance on Mental Health, Minnesota (NAMI)

As for me and what I can give …  I’m offering you an arm around your shoulder, my head against yours, and maybe the words and melody to a song that will lift your spirits.  And, dear reader, keep talking to those who will care and who will listen.  If you find yourself feeling helpless or hopeless the one piece of advice I give (without your even asking)… Do ask.  Ask for help.  Ask for advice.  Seek guidance and counsel.  You are not alone.  Your need is universal.