“Do or do not. There is no try.” ~ Yoda.
A few weeks ago I was thinking about a friend of mine whom I had not seen since August. Every day I drive by her house on my way to work and each time I think about how I should reach out to her. But I have to admit, I kept putting it off because I was a little embarrassed since so much time had passed.
I have learned to listen to the internal inklings that call me to action and one evening as I was making dinner, I quickly picked up my phone and texted her. She immediately texted back telling me that her ex-husband had passed away the previous week at the age of 61 due to complications with dementia. Knowing the complexity of their marriage, which led to divorce 8 years prior, I asked if I could stop by the following day.
Honestly, I panicked a bit because I wasn’t sure how I would fit in stopping by to see her. Then I thought of Yoda’s quote, “Do or do not. There is no try.” When we distill life down to its simplest form, we either make the decision to show up or not. To do or not do. There is no try.
How many times have we thought about a person but didn’t reach out, thought about sending a card, thought of visiting, but didn’t act because we were too busy?
The following day, I stopped by the store to buy flowers. My friend was grateful to see me. We took a 30-minute walk and got caught up. As I was getting into my car to leave, she said to me, “of the three friends I told of my ex-husband’s passing, you were the only one who showed up. Thank you.” As I drove off, I was grateful that I made the decision to show up and it was 30 minutes well spent because seeing her fed my soul, too.
