Show Up

There are probably as many ways to “show up” for people as there are people in the world. Think about it… there is obviously the be there physically to show your support for someone on a big momentous day or a special occasion type of showing up. But there are millions of smaller ways, too. Showing up doesn’t always have to be for a reason at all even. It can be just because.

There are the cards you drop in the mail because it was funny and reminded you of the one friend so much you snorted when you read it so of course it was going in the mail. The friend you dropped a bottle of wine off to on their porch when she was sick and couldn’t help you finish coaching middle school volleyball on the last night of the season, but you wanted her to celebrate survival of it all anyway. The friend who now has her own children involved in events and what is better on a summer night than watching 5-year-olds trying to figure out t-ball for 45 minutes, so you go up and give them a high five after the game. The meme you see online about Ted Lasso or how work is a dumpster fire lately and you immediately must send it to the work group text so they all can agree. The picture you take of your morning coffee and send to your friend who moved to let them know you miss your coffee dates.

Millions of ways.

The funny thing is that as kids we look for our people. When you’re in the play at school, or on the soccer field or playing at the park, we keep a watch out to make sure we know where our other people are. There’s comfort in knowing they are there just in case we need them. Like our own little safety net. When we’re adults, life gets busy and messy, and we have the best of intentions, but things get in the way. But we still look for the person in the crowd, the person that’s rooting for us and the one that showed up and reminded us that they are there, and we matter. That simply because we are here, they are proud and make this little spot brighter.

So when it makes sense for you, show up. When you get that feeling that you haven’t talked to someone in a while, talk to them. When you miss someone, stop and go talk to them in whatever way you can. Or sometime best of all, the thing you can do with is to show up in some way for someone in your life for absolutely no reason at all other than they are, in fact, your people.