Check-ups.

A lot of us, (yes, me especially), love the little things in life. Good morning texts, even if it's just from a friend. Check-up texts. Random meme sending on Instagram or Facebook. It just makes us feel like someone is thinking of us. Even if it is for a split second, somebody saw something and you were the one that popped into their head and they wanted to share it with you.

Nowadays, especially with social distancing and COVID-19, the greater part of our communication is virtual (FaceTime, iMessage, text messages, Instagram, Facebook, etc.). Knowing that you can contact someone with just a few clicks or taps on your device is very convenient.

Not all of us have the "luck" of having someone to call a true friend. We mostly have acquaintances, that are there for a moment, and then gone. No one stays in long friendships anymore. Unless you have been friends since forever. We meet new people each day, and the technology is bringing us closer together, yet pushing us further apart. We don't think about messaging anybody anymore to check up on them, because we see statuses on Facebook or stories on Instagram, and we assume they are okay. We don't stop and think "is this person truly okay?"

Some people even go further out and actually post that they are not okay, and we just keep scrolling. No one takes the 20 seconds to ask if they can help you with anything, if you are going through something rough in life, if your health (physical and mental) is okay, or even if they just need someone to listen to them.

We feel alone. All the time. Even being surrounded by people, or sitting in a room with one person. Sometimes we enjoy being alone, and not surrounded by anyone. We may take this time to meditate, catch up on some cleaning, reading, a series we've been bingeing (because that's a new word added to mostly everyone's dictionary), or catch up on sleep.

I like to check up on people, be it a close friend or an acquaintance, someone I have not spoken to in a while, my family and people I once considered part of my most inner circle, even though we have grown distant.

We all wish we had someone that cared enough for us the way we care for others. We need to feel that someone cares for us.

Sometimes I am having a terrible day. Kids. might be acting up more that usual, the house is a bigger mess than I want it to be, work is stressful when it's more than we can handle, or even just having a headache; and if someone so much as sends a picture, not even words, it makes us feel like someone is thinking of us, and turn our whole day around.

"They saw this and I popped into their head". That is one of the best feelings. To know we are in someone's head. That someone remembers we exist. That, just for a split second, someone remembers.

Once I expressed feeling alone, and someone said to me "you have children, you are never alone. True, but sometimes we need more than the company of our children or our significant other. Our children did not choose to be in our lives. They did not ask to be born. We brought them into the world. Not for constant company, but to create a family.

There are some instances where we need a different kind of company. An ear that will understand our burdens. A friend that will advise us of what we need to do. Someone to sit and have a glass of wine with, or coffee, or hot chocolate. Someone at "our level", capable of comprehending our situations.

Check up on your friends. You don't know who needs you and is afraid to ask.