What do you see when you look in the mirror? What about in the eyes of a stranger?

Envy?

Anger?

Disappointment?

Desperation?

Happiness?

Anxiety?

Anything at all?

To share one’s sorrows, fears and anxieties – the cathartic experience that relieves one’s burden is truly magnificent.

When a storm is brewing inside us we become oblivious to the struggles of others – even those of our closest friends and family. The struggle, however, does not simply dissappear after the release of pent-up emotions. The inner reservoir of dispair is again begging to be filled.

The voice inside our head, a radar operator on the lookout for blips of all eventual potentialities, try as we might to turn it off, refuses to turn off.

To have someone to confide in, an opportunity to unload the burden that one carries is a rare blessing. In sharing our anxieties we are not always looking for a solution to our troubles. In sharing we find relief for the strain of the yoke that life has fastened around our neck. Some, not all, come to realize that the yoke is a self imposed burden. Others carry the weight proudly.

Straining under the weight of the burder we fail to notice the struggle in the eyes of our brothers and sisters. We fail to see their yoke. They, just as you, are struggling with anxieties, fears and insecurities.

To be continued…