Be known. Be loved. Be well.

I think I know what it is people need.  What people want.  People want to be known.  They want to be known and loved anyway.  It is a need in their soul. 

I think about this a lot.  I know being known is a major need for me.  Deep seated.  If I feel like people don't know me and I have no connection, I feel lost.  Sad.  Depressed.  Angry. 

Having people know you and love you, it's like a balm for the soul.  For your soul.  People need connection.  I know some people out there are far more solitary than I am.  I am an EXTROVERT in all CAPS with lots of !!!!!  It's true.  Being quiet is not relaxing for me.  I feel stressed in  alone times.  But yet, what I am saying here isn't that you need to be around lots of people (even though I like that) what I am saying is that people need people. 

Somehow, we as a society, have gotten into a weird worldview of not needing people, not needing help, being offended and insulted when someone tries to help.  I wish we could turn that thought on its head.  I know I feel the most contentment  when I feel known.  Validated.  Understood.  Loved. 

When I think of the people I know and see as the most happy, most content, most joyful, most well loved, I am always blown away by what those people have overcome.  The tragedy.  The pain.  The sadness.  The obstacles.  "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths." ~Elisabeth Kubler- Ross. 

And what got them through in every situation? I am willing to bet it all on faith and other people.  Friends, families, a random act or word from a stranger.  We have to be vulnerable enough to say I need help!  I need love!  I need you! 

So even if we are capable of making it through alone, let's just let other people love us through their actions.  Let's love others through our actions.  It's hard.  But we can do hard things.