It has been an odd week.  Not so much for me personally, I had a pretty good week.  No major stress issues or problems, I feel good, the weather has been beautiful, I even had a couple high points to my days.  But not so for several of the people in my life.

Stress has been swirling in the air for some reason, especially around many of my BFF’s and other friends and family.  One wasn’t feeling well but was still putting in extra hours at work to prepare for a big event. One was running herself ragged juggling far too much while getting her affairs in order before flying out of the country on a trip.  One was having personal issues at home. One had a falling out with a family member and had received bad news about a friend with health issues.  One lost a job while another was having sleepless nights due to the anxiety of a potential job change. It seemed everyone I connected with was having a just plain yucky week.

I’m not sure why these things seem to come in bulk quantity.  Sure, there is that saying that misery loves company, and there is some comfort in commiserating with someone else about the downfalls of a day.  But could there be some sort of cosmic connection, or phase of the moon, that creates a figurative Charlie Brown-esque black cloud over several people at once?

Perhaps it has more to do with the seasonal change.  Maybe our resilience and optimism is tempered due to the days growing shorter.  We know that these glorious sunny warm days are numbered, and the long winter is ahead.  Rumors abound lately about how this will be a “bad winter.”  I have heard more theories & predictions than usual about this…. folks are talking about the colors on wooly caterpillars, measuring the bushiness of squirrels tails, counting the number of berries on berry bushes — all supposed signs of what is in store for us in the coming months.  Is it no wonder that daily stresses and strains that we perhaps would normally be able to shake off are instead weighing us down more?

One thing is clear to me. That in order to regain a balance, those having a crummy week need to have some support from those that aren’t.  If it is my turn right now to be the one who can share a funny email, deliver a needed treat, make a call to say I care, or just be a sounding board or a dry shoulder to cry on, then I’m happy to do it.  Because I am very sure that at some point in the near future, I will be the one having the yucky week, and I’ll need the same thing in return from others.  This is real life.  As much as we hate to admit it, none of us are invincible, and we all need each other to lean on from time to time.

I like to call it the Real Women Cosmic Balance.

It works.