Greenville Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 68)

viewpoints Greenville Magazine would love to think that whenever you read my contributions to this column that you cut them out and place them in a special file to be read and re-read for years to come. However, being under no such illusions/delusions, let me take you back to April’s issue when I last wrote: it concerned how I had allowed myself to become overloaded and overwhelmed with all I had taken on. Of course, the column has to be submitted weeks prior to publication, so between the time of writing and when the magazine hit the newsstands, as they say, the only change that took place was that I crashed and burned, with my emotional wreckage scattering out over several weeks. Anxiety (occasionally panic), depression (occasionally despair), dread, loneliness, futility: I was a serious wreck. If you’ve ever been there or anywhere similar you know what a horror it can be. I’m much better now. I don’t know how far along in my recovery I’ll be when you read this, but I’m hopeful. And one of the reasons I’m hopeful is the community of friends and acquaintances I have in my life. It was a group of men who, because they love me, came up to the plate, took on some of the administrative load of The Caleb Group, where I work, and demanded that I take time off. It was a group of friends who welcomed me into their homes during the day so I wouldn’t be alone when doing whatever I had to do. It was a quartet of men, each of whom assigned themselves to have lunch with me each Friday during the month of May – just to keep up (although each kept much closer tabs than that). There’s also a young couple who established Sunday evenings as the time of week when I would have a 68 I BY JohnnY Price home-cooked meal with them and their children. And a counselor who knows me, loves me, is patient and asks good questions. But more than all of those people and their kindnesses put together, it was and continues to be the well over 50 people (that I know of) who pray for me regularly. How did they know I needed prayer? I told them. I may be mentally ill, but I’m not stupid. I’m not about to fight a monster like depression/ anxiety by myself. I’m bringing out the Big Guns. And although I don’t completely understand it, I’ve learned that the Big Guns that are bigger than any other big guns you’ll ever come up with are prayers. We were not created to live alone, in isolation, independent of one another – neither in the rough times nor the good. Life is to be shared; we’re to invest ourselves in one another, not only when it’s fun and convenient but also when it calls us to bear one another’s burdens. Again, I don’t know how far along in my recovery I’ll be when you read this. But I do know that I won’t be alone. ■ www.GreenvilleMagazine www.GreenvilleMagazine.com GreenvilleMagazine www.greenvillemagazine.com Wreckage Recovery Introducing the eZine $3.95 May/June 2008 Everyday Saving Greenville One Person at a Time Plus Heroes One-Tank Trips Your Guide to Gas-saving Getaways The Real State of Upstate Real Estate Private School Resource Guide Greenville Magazine is now available to read online. To learn more about this new product please logon to greenvillemagazine.com and click on the most recent cover. Viewpoints is a regular opinion column and does not necessarily reflect the views of Greenville Magazine. GreenviLLe MaGazine | JULY 2008 http://greenvillemagazine.com http://greenvillemagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Greenville Magazine - July 2008

Greenville Magazine - July 2008 Contents Editor's Letter My Greenville Alone At Last Watercooler Romance Greenwood Tourist in Your Own Town One-Tank Trips In The Lead Keeping Students In-State After Hours From the Pros A Look Back Walk this Way If These Walls Could Talk Viewpoints Attorneys The Bulletin Around Town Parting Words

Greenville Magazine - July 2008

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