I was looking for an email from a year ago about when I first started to try to do counseling after a long break from it. I finally felt ready to deal with my stuff. I came across this poem that had been passed on to me at that time by a dear friend. It was so touching to me then - and now.
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"Lend me your Hope"
- author unknown

Lend me your hope for awhile, I seem to have mislaid mine.

Lost and hopeless feelings accompany me daily, pain and confusion are my cpnstant companions.

I know not where to turn; looking ahead to future times does not bring forth images of renewed hope.

I see troubled times, pain-filled days, and more tragedy.

Lend me your hope for awhile, I seem to have mislaid mine.

Hold my hand and hug me; listen to all my ramblings, recovery seems so far distant.

The road to healing seems like a long and lonely one.

Lend me your hope for awhile, I seem to have mislaid mine.

Stand by me, offer me your presence, your heart and your love.

Acknowledge my pain, it is so real and ever present.

I am overwhelmed with sad and conflicting thoughts.

Lend me your hope for awhile; a time will come when I will heal, and I will share my renewal, hope, and love with others.


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I think that along the healing journey - T's lend us hope, friends can lend us hope... and there seems to be something healing for me about passing on hope, even when I have almost none.

This poem also reminds me of what I have wanted the most in therapy, is just a T to be present with me. Not the so much the "love" and hugs and all that from a T - but even "presence" can be so powerful for me.

Now here I am again... and my heart is broken and I am shattered and a mess. But there is hope. At least I want to believe there is.