A difficult day

“Today was a difficult day,” said Pooh.

There was a pause.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Piglet.

“No,” said Pooh after a bit. “No, I don’t think I do.”

“That’s okay,” said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend.

“What are you doing? asked Pooh.

“Nothing, really,” said Piglet. “Only, I know what difficult days are like. I quite often don’t feel like talking about it on my difficult days either.”

“But goodness,” continued Piglet, “Difficult days are so much easier when you know you’ve got someone there for you. And I’ll always be here for you, Pooh.”

And as Pooh sat there, working through in his head his difficult day, while the solid, reliable Piglet sat next to him quietly, swinging his little legs...he thought that his best friend had never been more right.”

— A.A. Milne

A few days back, my best friend sent me this heartwarming dialogue between Pooh and Piglet along with her message, “Made me think of you ❤️”

I went all mushy and teary. 🥹 Normally, I'm the last person in the room you'd see expressing their emotions (a true introvert 😅). But her message splashed an old memory wave so strong, I got soaking wet. A memory so long back I thought I'd forgotten all about it. But here it was..like an old film rolling…

The 20-something me was sitting on a bench in a park. My best friend was sitting next to me. I had had a difficult day — I got dumped with parting words, “We can be friends but I'll not always be there for you.”

I was sad and heartbroken. You know how it is when you're young. You still feel bad if others tell you the guy is/was no good. You think they're just trying to make you feel better. The most well-intentioned advice from friends doesn't work for you. The more they talk, the worse you feel. The more they ask how you're feeling, the worse you start feeling. 

But my best friend was different. She understood. She asked me just this one thing, “Do you wanna talk about it?” I jerked my head. 

“Good”, she said, “I don't have any wisdom to offer you anyway. I'm not the wise kinds.”

“But”, she said,  “I'm here for you. I'll always be there for you.” 

A little while back, someone had told me the opposite.

That day, I heard the most hurtful and heartwarming sentence from two people with just one word flipped, making a world of difference! 

If I could go back to my past self at that very moment, I'd tell her how lucky she was to have a friend like that. 

We kept sitting there on that bench in the park for I don't remember how long.

I don't even remember where we went afterward. Knowing her, she might have taken me for an ice cream or a long drive to my favorite lake.

However the day unfolded, one thing is for certain. I must have realized that no matter how many difficult days life throws, I’ll always have a friend with me.

After all, there is no escaping difficult days. You could be a big optimist or a meditative guru, you don’t have the power to delete difficult days from your life.

It's comforting to know that you have someone who's always there for you. They might be sitting next to you in the park or living a continent apart. You know they're there for you.

There is a similar connection between a writer and a reader.

The writer pours their heart into their writing and the reader gives their time and attention connecting with the writing.

I can’t fix a difficult day for you. But through my writing, I can assure you that I’m always there for you. No matter how difficult days life throws at you or me. ❤️