My dear friend

I have a very dear friend. Well, to be honest, I have more dear friends, but this is the one I turn to when I need a completely different perspective on things.

She's 15 days older than I am. I'm an inch taller than she is. She can do headstands. I can put my forehead on my knees.

She never hesitates to tell me her view or thoughts on matters that we talk about. She's not afraid of telling me when she doesn't agree with me. And I can always count on her to tell me when I'm being ridiculous or stupid. Or too engineer-like. (Sometimes those go hand in hand...)

Her mind works in a way that I envy from time to time. She sees the world and the people that populates it in a way I can't. Yet. She's got a distance to herself that I see in few. And she's determined. She makes her choices and she sticks to them. Even if doing something else would be easier.

A couple of days ago I went through some old emails and read a couple that we exchanged roughly 5 years ago. I was fighting a depression and had decided to go on medication and find a therapist that could help me straighten my brain out. These emails are very emotional and honest.

In one of them, she writes the following:

however, it's only when we lose our balance that we discover how to regain it

Reading it the other day, it went straight to my heart. Again. I'm not only losing my balance, I'm also discovering how to regain it.

Thanks, Shel. I'm blessed to have you in my life.