May-day May-day!

Have you ever been so overwhelmed you didn't know what to do?

 You kept trying to fix problems as they arose, but they cropped up more quickly than you could take action?

 Well, I have.

 Need I say, "not a pleasant experience"?

 As a recovering worry-wart, I attempt to let things "slide". I have found dread to be far more draining than the dreaded.

 However, for a while in the recent past, the dreaded was actually worse than the dread.

 I am not sure how seemingly little things add up to "too much", but somehow synergistically, they do. Voila~a tipping point is reached.

 The sad part was that my entire family appeared to reach the tipping point at precisely the same time.

 Things were unraveling, and not one of us knew how to make things better.

 So, Jim and I reached out to someone.

It actually felt melodramatic and our emotions were on heightened alert.

We were desperate.

 But, then something magical happened.

 We sat down with the person to whom we reached out.

 And...

 They listened.

 Did you HEAR me?

 THEY LISTENED.

 A (too) rare trait in this time and age of hustle and bustle. They sat across from the two of us espousing our emotions and they listened.

 And then...

 They affected change.

 They helped us.

 What a relief.

 We gave our problems to someone else, they listened, and they helped us.

 I can't tell you how relieved we felt after that meeting. It was as if the weight of the world just slipped off of our shoulders. Everything seemed brighter and full of joy. 

My messages here are powerful ones:

 When you can no longer help yourself, ask for help.

 and

 If someone asks you for help, listen and attempt to affect change for them.

 I assure you, the listening to and answering of my May-day 2012 has been a true blessing and I can't thank the "true listener" enough.