We can lean on friends!

Last night I needed a solution to a tough problem. I thought of a friend I “used to know” someone I hadn’t talked to in a while, someone I knew who might help me find a solution. I looked for her in my phone address book and texted a note to her, “Is this you?” meaning I hoped it was the right friend. She texted, “yep it’s me!” and I shared my problem with her though we hadn’t talked in months. The next morning she texted back the solution to my problem, not just advice, but the entire solution. I was amazed! Grateful! I asked (as our polite moms taught us) what I could do for her and she texted, “Kim that is what friends are for! If we don’t have friends to lean on during these tough times we won’t make it, we won’t survive. I am happy to help!”
She then went on to share how tough things have been for her, her husband laid off and a failed business partnership. I asked what I could do for her and she said, “If I think of anything I will let you know!”
Now here is something important to note the solution she had provided for me was within her line of work, something she could charge for, and she did let me know that if I needed more than that she would charge me but she was happy to do what she did for me, gratis, for a friend this time, for free. “Why would you do that?” I asked. She said, it was simple didn’t take much time and she knew I needed help. If I needed more she would send rates, but again she was happy to help and (get this) glad I called or well texted.
I thought about her this morning, a friend I “used to know” was there for me, when I needed her, to support me without a price. I wondered if I was that kind of friend and I hoped so. I think her text words are so accurate now, perhaps, more than ever before in recent history with all the bad things happening around us. “If we don’t have each other to lean on how do we survive?”
I love her words, she is right. We need each other. Thanks to Social Media and the Internet and Web we can reconnect with old friends. We can talk like we used to when we met in the halls or at the store and say, “how are you?” “How’s work?” “cheer up” “I know someone who could help you with that!” in ways that were constricted by geography only a few years before. Now I can see what my “used to know” best friend from high school is having for lunch just be reading her Facebook wall. Thanks to Social Media we are all in contact again.
So, today, after that great experience with my friend, I want to make sure I am that kind of friend too. Whether you “used to know” me or whether we talk daily, I want you to know I am here if you need a friend to lean on. Whether you need a new recipe, advice on raising giant dogs, or a little marketing and advertising help! Here is what I can do to help, if you ever want or need it. Obviously, I do Social Media and marketing along with a weekly talk radio show about business. I once had a friend interview on the show, no cost to her, and she sold 12 of her quilt making kits. Maybe not a lot of sales, and I surely can’t promise, but it helped her pay that month’s bills. So, if you need a little extra help marketing, I can help in this way . . . I can share advice, I can give you Free advertising or interview you on my talk radio show, I can edit or write if you need a quick hand, you can lean on me, first time free.
Perhaps you don’t need that kind of help? I don’t have many other talents, certainly not singing, but I can put together tasty, inexpensive Crockpot meals or desserts in 2 minutes or less. I am a good listener. I may know someone who needs someone like you to hire. I may not be able to give you a solution but I probably know someone who can. In those ways and any other you may be able to think of, like my “used to know” friend, am happy to help! Now having written that I am going to challenge you, as a good friend would, to share your talents, if you want and if you can! What can you do to ease another’s burden? If we don’t have each other to lean on, how do we survive? It’s just a thought I came up with this morning, and it is up to you!
Either way, I want you to know I care, you can text me anytime and ask “Is this you?” and you can be sure of reaching a friend you “used to know” who loves you still and will help if she can!