Its the Guests. Thank you!

Its the guests that keep me going. By that I mean, its you; you who choose to stay here with us. You keep me focused and driven on why our mission here at Deer Run is important. You, who are filled with contentment, gratitude, adventure, wonder and hope.

Its true, some days are not as easy as others. I'm like you, I get tired, I get frustrated, plus I have other things going on in my life besides work which take my attention. And, not always good things, although I don't like to dwell on negative. So, through any challenges or difficulties I experience, I do find that I am often renewed by our guests. Good guests. Deer Run gets good guests. Really great people.

As I reflect back on the last few months, I can honestly say I'm overwhelmed with the kindness, caring, compassion, awareness and overall caliber of our guests. I suppose if you're in this business, at least a part of you should be a "people person." In work I've done in the past, I would not consider myself a "people person." My work didn't lend itself to those type of relationships most of the time, in fact it was often adversarial and confrontational. Not the case here.

I had some concerns about how would I be at this work, and I wasn't the only one. Anyone who knows me has either laughed or wondered at how do I cope, as they mostly know me from before, not "people person" work. I still struggle sometimes with it, Mr. Happy Vegan is much more outgoing than I am. I guess its human nature, we all have our flaws and fears, we just hope no one really discovers them. We work hard for everyone to feel nurtured while here. Often the feedback we receive from our guests makes me so happy I could cry. I didn't often have experiences like that in prior work experiences.

I guess I'm feeling extra grateful today about guests because I was lifted me up with very kind words, totally unsolicited, and I needed it badly. There's some pressing matters going on behind the scenes which are draining me emotionally. Not everyone is kind in this world, not everyone has good intentions either. Spending the majority of my time in the oasis at Deer Run, I don't meet evil here. I forget that it exists. But, there's very bad people out there, a fair amount of evil and injustice. Its a lot to handle when it happens to you, or shall I say when it happens to me.

Striking that balance between what is fair on me and my time when its bad stuff isn't easy. How far do I allow evil to push before I push back? I don't want this type of adversity, it is not welcome, I am not inviting it. I don't want to devote my days to it, my life is valuable, my time is short. Its so hard. I don't want one more second of my life robbed by anyone who is evil. Anyone who has bad intentions. A thief, a conniver, someone who cares nothing for anyone but themselves, and hides behind a facade so perfectly normal, blending into society, that its chilling. I also wonder about writing about things like this here. Is it "proper?" I'm not sure. Maybe I'm in a weak moment right now, or maybe its the opposite, and I'm feeling empowered? Again, I'm not sure.

Sometimes I want to run away. Not from all I love and care about, but rather the toxic stuff that tries to invade my life. Where would I run to? Why, my back yard of course. Isn't that funny. When I want to run away, I just want to run steps to my beach. Once I banish thoughts of carving an evil doer out of soap, I'll just want to stare at the ocean and all that is here, allowing myself to be grounded once again. Sometimes I don't get that opportunity, including today. However, I was saved anyway, thanks to the guests. Its always the guests. Its always you. Thank you.