the feet on the back of my rower

As a team of three we tackled a workout together. Cindy was pulling on the rower so hard the whole machine would lurch back. Instinctively, Jenn and I stepped on the back of the rower to hold it in place, so Cindy could keep giving it her all.

I’m not sure Cindy realized what we were doing. Maybe she did. Either way, she kept going with all her strength. As I looked down at my foot and Jenn’s I couldn’t help but think of what a perfect picture of friendship it was to me.

Sometimes I think it is easy for people ‘to be there’ for friends when things are hard. When you feel needed. When they are going through something hard. But what about when they are thriving? What about when they are stronger than you are and making leaps ahead far faster than you are? Is it easy ‘to be there’ for them then?

I want to be the kind of friend that cheers and supports in both seasons. It was easy to put my foot on the back of that rower so that Cindy could do her thing with all her might. I want it to be the same outside of the gym – it to be easy to stand with and behind my friends that are strong and thriving.

I keep thinking about this picture. I keep thinking about the kind of friend I want to be. I keep thinking about the women in my life that I know do the same for me – they are there in the really good, just as much as they are in the really difficult. They not only rejoice in my victories – they help me get there.

They’ve got their foot on the back of my rower even when I don’t realize it – and I am so thankful.

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