No one heals as an island separate from the rest of humanity.

By bearing witness to another who has an affliction similar to our own, we deepen our understanding of how to heal ourselves.

When I was down, confused, and broken, I did not know which way to turn. But someone showed me the way and gave me hope.

She said, “look! I healed this – and if I can do it, you can do it too!”

In that moment, I realized it was possible for me to heal, and my despair transformed into resolve.

Sometimes we need a helping hand. It’s as simple as that. Someone who has overcome what we thought was impossible for us to heal can give us hope when it seems that there is no way forward. When a person who has walked the path before you reaches out, it can be like a ray of sunshine that dissipates the darkness.

In the journey of our healing, there will come a moment when it is simply impossible to proceed without another’s help. Selflessly, without any thought of their own gain, they will share with you the keys to healing. They won’t do your healing for you, but they will show you it’s possible to heal yourself.

When you realize that you will be from time to time dependent on another’s intervention, you will understand that you’d better be there for others as well.

The wheel of the healing is not self-powering. It has to be energized by your compassion. Just as your healing was powered by the compassion of another.

Healing oneself is a selfish act. But it is never completed until you selflessly share it with another. And so you become deeply present with another who is now struggling with what you have struggled with yourself. And by helping that other person, you witness your own wound and it will be healed even more deeply.

We are interdependent. We do not heal separately. Just as the organs in my body need each other to create health, you and I help each other to heal through our reflections. We need each other to be whole.

Part of my own healing is to be there for others. It is to witness their pain and not create a wall against it – but to share it as my own.

Someday I will need that done for me in return. Someday I will be confronted by something so big, so overwhelming, that I simply won’t be able to deal with it without help – and I will sink into despair. And in that moment, you will rescue me. So now I must rescue you.

This is how the wheel of healing turns. All alone we go inside ourselves and deal with the nitty-gritty. But there are times when we need another’s help, and in that help, the desolation within us is dispelled.

If you want to be fully healed, then you must learn to be there for another. You must help without any thought of yourself, out of compassion. Then your healing is complete.