I didn't hug her...

Do you remember a time when someone needed you to hug them, but you didn't? I can recall quite a few times like these. The most recent one for me was this past August at my graduation. A classmate was telling me a story that obviously hit her very deeply and she began to cry. If any of you know me then you know I can get awkward in a heartbeat. That's exactly what happened when she started to cry. All of those pesky thoughts came flooding into my head. "What do I do?", "Should I hug her?", "What if she doesn't want me to touch her?", "Some people cry harder when they're hugged, so maybe I should just leave her be." "Why would she reveal this emotional story to me? We don't even know each other very well." "Oh crap, this is getting awkward." Then, by the time these thoughts were finished, she'd already wiped her tears away and said "I'm fine, it's okay. Talk to you later." The moment passed and I had completely failed at consoling this other soul. I have a bad tendency of doing this, and every time it happens I feel like a miserable excuse for a human being. For others, it seems so easy to be compassionate and sympathetic. For me, I have a hard time stopping these thoughts. I used to be so compassionate when I was a little girl. I'm not sure when I started acting like this, but it's been much harder to go back to the way I was than I expected. That encounter at my graduation really opened my eyes to how I was acting. I was so disappointed in myself for missing that opportunity to connect with her. My point to this story is that we all need to stop overthinking things so much. When someone is crying, hug them. When someone needs help, help them. Be there for people, whether you know them well or not. We're all the same. We all need to be hugged, even if it makes us cry harder. Don't miss the opportunity to be there for each other, especially when someone is specifically reaching out to you. Be in that moment and make the choice to connect to that other spirit. What's the worst that can happen?