I just watched Oprah's last show. She reminded me of my passion. And that I need to honor it.
When I was a Jehovah's Witness I think my passion was helping the people in the deaf group. My help went far beyond the interpreting at the meetings or going door to door with them. I was their friend in all senses of the word. I took care of their kids. I went to legal and medical appointments with them. I help them with funeral arrangements. I sat beside one woman as one died and I held her hand while her sister held the other and she took her final breaths. They trusted me and appreciated me in a way the elders or my husband never did.
After I left and went back to school, I talked to and worked with women who were sexually abused as children. These were women who had been betrayed by the very people who were supposed to protect them. Some walked into my office and threw their trust at me not realizing what they were doing. Others held a tight rein on their trust. But once I had won it I treasured it and protected that trust.
Then I moved and worked with abused wives. They followed the same pattern. Either they trusted indiscriminately or they held their trust back until I earned it. But with time they did trust and I honored that.
I'm no longer working for a living. But the people on JWN, people who have read my website or read me on Freeminds or email me have all done the same. They have handed me their trust. Wow what an honor it has been to help thousands - yes I do believe it is in the thousands. What an honor that they have all trusted me. That is a trust I hold dearly whether it was 20 years ago or just yesterday.
That is my passion - to help people who have no reasion to trust anyone but have handed it to me so I can help them heal the wounds whether they are physical, emotional, sexual or spiritual.
Quite a few years ago I took on the care of 2 cats. One was a real people person. He loved every one especially if they would feed him. But the other cat was withdrawn. He hid when people came into the house. He hated to be touched or picked up. It took a year for me to be able to pick him up for as long as a minute. It took much longer for me to be able to pat him where he didn't jump up and move away. That is the cat that grabbed my heart. Not that I didn't love the other one but the trust that was hard won with this cat was appreciated and treasured. Seems to me that people are not a lot different.
If there is one good thing I can take from everything that I have lived, is that I can turn those experiences around and use them to help others. I can't count the number of people who have posted here, telling their stories to strangers and hoping that their trust will be honored.
Thank you for your trust. It is treasured. You all give me the opportunity to keep my passion alive.