“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.”
Albert Camus
Walk Beside Me
We each have our own path to follow in life; a path that is there to offer us the lessons we are here to learn. As my friend, I ask you to trust that I am traveling my path in the best way I know how. I ask that you allow me to learn at my own pace. I know it isn’t as fast as you would like to see sometimes, and I know we don’t always agree on what the lesson is, but this is my path and I must travel it alone.
I know there are times when you can see big potholes in front of me and I often trip in them and that frustrates you because they were so obvious! You told me about them and I appeared not to listen and I’m sure it must be disappointing to see something so clearly when I am so blind. Actually, it wasn’t that I wasn’t listening, I just simply didn’t hear you. Probably because that was a lesson I needed to learn for myself, by myself.
In order to grow and learn, I must make my own choices and learn from them. They will not always be your choices, but you may not have the same lessons to learn as I. This will require great patience from you (one of your lessons, perhaps?) and most of all, it will require trust. Trust that I am capable of handling whatever comes my way, trust that I am on my path and trust that I will make the decision I need to (whatever that may be) to learn and grow.
Also, please do not walk behind me expecting me to lead you. You are on your own path and you, too, must make your own decisions. I do not know what is best for you. Only you can make those choices. All I can do is walk beside you and share what I see before me and share my experience of your choices. That is all. The rest is up to you.
You may hear me. You may not. It’s not important. What I get to do as your friend is trust you are doing the very best you know how and that you, too, are surfacing the lessons you need to learn and grow. You must make your own choices, handle your own life and reap the rewards and consequences as do I.
I am your friend. We are each on our own path. But we are walking beside each other through life. If I fall into a hole, please let me find my own way out. Don’t leave me. Don’t tell me, “I told you so.” Just be there. Let me know you believe in me and you trust I will find my way out. That trust will do more for me than any advice you could ever give me. If, however, I ask for your help, then, and only then, give me your hand and I will do my very best to not only listen to you, but to hear you. And I promise to do the same for you.