The Kindness of Strangers: getting help from the outside

Last weekend, my partner and I went stand up paddle boarding at a mountain reservoir near Buena Vista, Colorado. The sun glittered against the bright bowl of the blue sky. We drifted around peacefully for an hour or so, letting the breeze take us to the other end of the reservoir, away from our cars.

Then, the wind suddenly kicked up. No matter how furiously we paddled, we could not gain traction.

We cut over to the beach and took a break. Pushed off, tried again. The wind whipped so hard the water resembled small, rounded ocean peaks.

We decided to try walking along the shore for a while. I walked with my heavy as hell board, attempting to keep the nose forward, but kept getting beaten back, almost falling several times.

We were at least a mile away from the place where we could even TRY to cut our boards across the reservoir to our car.

Then: a small voice said, “If it might help, we could strap your boards to our boat and take you across to the parking lot.”

It was a man, his wife, and their son out fishing on a small motor boat.

I cannot tell you, even now, how much gratitude I still have in my heart for these people.

Me breathing a big ol' sigh of relief. Photo by Ron Michael Photography.

Sometimes, we simply need help from the outside. We CANNOT do it all ourselves, as much as we have fallen into this thinking in our culture.

We need our community. We need the kindness of strangers. We need the consideration of those close to us and those that are acquaintances or neighbors.

Sometimes the wind is whipping us around and we can’t tell what direction to head in.

I’ve seen this with some of my clients: they know what they need to do for themselves, but they need a helping hand with the HOW.

I’m working on some new offerings in addition to 1:1 coaching, to continue to be a hand that reaches out and says “maybe it would be helpful if..."

One of these is an Ayurveda Starter Kit for middle-aged women to give you a place to take inventory of the three pillars of your life (sleep, food, sex), and see where there’s room for shifts, so that you can start making changes systematically to relieve symptoms of perimenopause such as fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, and the like.

If this intrigues you and you’re interested, let me know by clicking the button below. More to come.