Talk to someone who knows you

Another short one today but I’ll be steady again as of tomorrow so they’ll get longer and probably better. 

This last week I’ve been bopping around on trains and busses talking to old friends and colleagues and it’s been lovely. A little in Amsterdam, though I missed two of my favourites (let’s see if Sarah actually reads these shall we), and then in London and Bristol. 

I’ve had a lot on my mind as regular readers will probably be able to glean, (that doesn’t belong in this post but I’m sure it’ll turn up) and I thought I had everything thought through. I’d journaled and therapied enough to feel like I had a handle on everything, so I thought I would just talk to my friends about it and get a lot of the same.

In fact I was a little concerned because I have a habit of moving swiftly on if people start telling me things I already know. But I sat down with my pal in a pub in Clapham and I realised, even though I rarely see him any more and we don’t talk on any kind of regular basis, and he doesn’t know what I’m up to, he knows me. 

I told him about everything going on and without prompt or pause he told me not only what I’d been thinking, but also what I needed to hear. I don’t even think he knew/knows. But I felt seen and heard and understood and it really picked me up. 

If you’re struggling with something or there’s something on your mind that’s been kicking around for a while, talk to someone who knows you, even if they say something you already know, that little external validation goes a long way from someone you trust.