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Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Choose to be alone

Shirley-Joy Barrow
Wanganui Midweek·
18 Feb, 2020 03:02 AM2 mins to read

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"We are old companions, more intimate than lovers." K&W Gear

It was great last week to celebrate the marriage of a wonderful crazy couple and their family and friends on a beautiful sunny day at the lake.
Although both said they didn't want a fuss, at the time of their commitment
to each other in this public place as people wandered by, they were excited yet calm. This was not new territory to them as they had been companions for over a decade. CS Lewis once said, "Those who are enjoying something, or suffering something, together, are companions. Those who enjoy or suffer one another are not." There is wisdom in his words and what I saw in these two people was a journey where whatever came towards them would be faced together with conversation and laughter. I wish them well in their next decade together.

These days on my journey to enlightenment, I better understand that we all have our imperfections and what I look for now is more about the person's direction. If a person is moving in a direction similar to mine, then we can travel together for a time. More and more, I dare to be around people stronger than me, for I believe that in time I will gain strength by this; and I know that it is so much better than joining company with people who are weaker than me. In times past I have found that I weaken myself when I am around people weaker or less sure of their direction than me.

My Angels encourage me that it is not essential to find a good companion to walk with me, and that it is all right to walk alone. They say it is better to be alone than to be with those people who might hamper my progress. There is great wisdom in silence, taking time to walk or sit alone.

Pythagoras says, "Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere on the road to a happier life", and persevere we shall, you and me and those wonderful people we choose to be around. Not forgetting a balance and a choice to have that wonderful sense of oneness being alone can bring. Arohanui.
Shirley-Joy

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