2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 31

Today's happiness: I helped! My oldest friend lost her job earlier this month. She's had a terrible time since moving to LA: trouble with her kids, disappointment in her cousin, broken bones, a car accident, a robbery, emotional isolation … and now unemployment. My heart goes out to her. No good has come from this move. But it's where she is, and she has to make it work somehow. She can't afford to move back here just now and besides, the "here" where she lived is gone. (In the past three years, her home has been sold and naturally, her boss replaced her.)

I've been encouraging her to build a life for herself out there. To reach out and try to make friends. To get out of her apartment and enjoy the ambiance that attracts tens of millions of tourists to Southern California every year.

Sometimes I feel like I've been talking to a stapler.

Well, she does hear me. I am helping! I woke up this morning to an email where she detailed her trips to local public library, how she found a nearby coffee shop to sit and read. She's also signed up for a meet-up in her neighborhood. All things I've recommended, and all things that seem to make lighten her mood.

I'm so relieved that she's doing better. She's a good person and she deserves good things. I'm so happy I could make a difference.