YOU ARE NOT ALONE by Becki Porter-Harmon MA, BCC, LPC

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

by Becki Porter-Harmon MA, BCC, LPC

This statement is not being used here as a comment that ET is with us, nor that a higher power surrounds us always. No, ‘You are not alone’ simply means that whatever you are going through is, on some level, a shared experience with other human beings.

The thought of someone sharing a similar experience to you doesn’t negate in any way the emotions and impact the experience is having on you.  We are all uniquely made and thus have variations in our experiences and how we cope with them.  However, in the practice of mental health, it is commonly known that perspective change can be an aid to healing.

The perspective that you are not alone in whatever the experience is can help in several ways.  First, you are not the object of some cosmic plan to pick on you.  It is so very easy to think ‘Why me?’, isn’t it?  Next, the very knowledge that others have been, or are going, through whatever is upon you – might give you pause to consider that many people have at least made it through, and in some cases triumphed over, your experience.

Though you, legitimately,  might not be in a place where you are ready to listen or share, someone out there might have some reassuring or wise words to offer you when you are ready.  It can be illuminating to find out just what others have been through and felt—and you never had a clue, or at least didn’t give it much consideration.

Perhaps your own transparency, when you sense a shared similar experience, may be the opening for someone else to begin to feel that they are not alone. Who knows but that they may begin to believe that there is not something wrong with them that causes the universe to pick on them? Maybe they will have hope based on seeing that you have made it through such an experience – or perhaps even came out the better for it.  Your words might stir up hope, or courage or other helpful feelings.

We are made to be connected as humans.  Thank goodness:

WE ARE NOT ALONE.

Written by:

Becki Porter-Harmon MA, BCC, LPC
Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia

Becki’s bio is available on pastoralcounseling.com.
You can contact her for an appointment at: 703-903-9696, extension 218

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Image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/bo3SHP58C3g

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia.

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