“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside,” said the internationally recognized wise bear Winnie The Pooh. The adventurous, honey-loving bear was named the world’s Ambassador of Friendship in 1997 by the United Nations. Pooh, as he is more affectionately regarded, understands the importance of friendship. Though his dearest treasured friend is a human boy named Christopher Robin, in the 1000 Acre Wood where Pooh lives, his life is full of friends of all kinds. Each of Pooh’s cohorts, from Piglet to Owl, have a special purpose in Pooh’s life because they are special individuals.
The first Sunday of August was proclaimed as National Friendship Day by the United states Congress in 1935. Friends should be celebrated every day as cherished people in our lives, especially when we are recovering from trauma.
Trauma is one of the most isolating experiences we can encounter in their lifetime, convincing us that we are entirely alone in the world and in the events our lives have brought to us. Thankfully, treatment and recovery teach us that is completely untrue. By coming together to share our secrets, pain, and hope, we realize that the tragedy of trauma is real- but it is shared, as is the hope of recovery. We learn that in order to recover, we cannot recover alone. Along our journey of recovery, we find the friends we want and the friends we need.
Friendship serves purpose in our lives beyond our road to recovery. Much research has been dedicated to the importance of friendships and the critical role friends and friendships play in our lives. Friends make us feel included, trigger an evolutionary need to be part of a tribe. Friends make us feel safe, triggering our animalistic need to be close to the middle of the herd. More importantly, friends fill in the lines of our lives, giving flesh to the skeleton structure of what is otherwise just survival. Like flowers in a garden of weeds, our friendships are the bright spots of our lives. Studies have found that having enriching friendships keeps us healthier, happier, and living longer, more fulfilling lives.
We’re proud to call Florida our home state. At The Guest House Ocala, everyone with an experience of trauma is welcomed to our estate to heal in mind, body, and spirit. Our treatment programs are customized on a concierge level of care. Each client’s treatment program is tailor fit to their specific needs and experiences. For information on life at the estate or our approach to trauma care, call us today: 1-855-483-7800