The Ribbon in My Journal – Phyllis Hoffman DePiano

Finding Calm at a Time of Great Sorrow

There are weeks where you just can’t seem to understand many things. This is one of those weeks. I have watched with great sorrow the accounts of two more mass shootings in our country.

I want to scream, “Stop it!” I have experienced the loss of friends and family through death, but never through an event like this. My mind can’t comprehend being on the premises when something like this happens and witnessing shootings. It’s hard enough to deal with a death of a loved one, but this—I can’t even begin to imagine.

We are a nation that has lived through many tragedies like this, and we pull together. The days and months following 9/11 were a time of unity and compassion. We reached out to everyone to help bring a little bit of calm to a horrible time.

I look at things on a personal level and try to imagine what went wrong that a person felt shooting others was the answer. Did we miss something? Were we too busy to notice a cry for help? I don’t have the answers. I wish I did.

Please let this serve as an encouragement to you that if you need someone to speak with about a loss or a difficult time in your life, please reach out. Sometimes just sharing with another person lightens the load and brings a little calm in your soul. A moment shared may be the turning point of your life. You are special to someone. You have great worth and great gifts to offer. When discouragement comes, it is only temporary, and it will pass. The passing of time gives us new perspective.

When I have the privilege of speaking at events, most of them women’s events, I close with this thought that I want to share this with you.

Right now, someone is thinking of you.

Someone wants to laugh with you.

Someone wants to hold your hand.

Someone wants to be the shoulder you cry on.

Someone wants to see your smile and hear your voice.

Right now, someone wants to give you a gift,

And someone thinks you are the gift!

Our lives have great worth. Live each day to the fullest, and when the sun goes down, rejoice that we lived another day.

If you need a person to share with and you don’t have anyone, please contact me. I might not have the answer, but I do have a heart that will listen.

Love to you all,

Phyllis