Be a Buddy

I have written and spoken openly about the challenges with mental health our family is tackling.  There are good days and there are not so good days. 

In August, we took a vacation to escape the Texas heat we went to the Colorado mountains.  The morning of a planned hike was particularly difficult but as always you manage through.  We paired back who was going on the hike and it ended up just being two of us. We set off expecting to do one trail.  As we approached the area of the trail, it became clear that the path was going to be difficult access and given the morning was a going to take too much time away.  We took the one that was close by and we set off. 

The trail was narrow but active with hikers going in both directions.  Many of the hikers had dogs tagging along.  Each time we approached people coming toward us, we stepped off the trail to allow them to pass.  In one narrow section, we saw a couple of women approaching with their dogs so we stepped off the path my son in front and me in the back.  When they got to us one of the dogs walked right to me, sat down and leaned against my leg.  I reached down to pet him and one of the ladies smiled and introduced me to “Buddy”.  She then asked me, “Are you okay?”  “Sure” I answered without much thought.  She then explained that Buddy was a service dog trained to detect stress.  Buddy ‘smelled’ my stress through my sweat.  We chatted for several minutes while I petted him.  After a little time, Buddy got up and moved to the other side of the trail.  I asked, “Does that mean I am good?”.  She gently smiled and said “Only YOU know that but Buddy has brought your level down to where he believes you are better.”  We went our separate ways after a thank you to Buddy.

After we completed our hike, we climbed back in the car and as we were driving away we noticed 2 hikers we had seen on the trail with their backpacks looking a little distressed.  I asked if they needed something.  They couldn’t get a signal, which meant they couldn’t get an ride into town – hop in and let’s go.  As we dropped them off, one of them thanked me and promised to pay it forward.  My son looked at me as we drove away – “I’ve seen weird things happen to you but this day takes the cake.” 

We hear a lot, you never know what someone else is going through.  It’s true, but, what that day taught me was if we pay attention, the signs are there to tell us when someone is struggling and we need to pay attention.  Sometimes, we can be like Buddy and lower that stress level just by listening and showing some empathy.  Listening is the easiest way to pay it forward for someone else because someday YOU will need someone to listen to YOU.  That day in August left an indelible mark on me; I will never forget what Buddy did for ME that day. By showing some empathy, you could have the same impact.