29/10/2023
“Piglet?" said Pooh.
"Yes?" said Piglet.
"I'm scared," said Pooh.
For a moment, there was silence.
"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Piglet,
There was a pause, a silence. Pooh didn’t respond.
"I'm just so scared," blurted out Pooh.
"I’m so anxious. I don't feel like things are getting any better. If anything, I feel like they might be getting worse. I don’t know which way to turn. Oh Piglet, I’m so scared, and I can’t even tell you how scared and how much I dont want to feel like this.
Piglet was thoughtful, as he looked out at the blue of the skies, peeping between the branches of the trees in the Hundred Acre Wood, and listened to his friend.
"I'm here," he said, simply. "I hear you, Pooh. And I'm here."
For a moment, Pooh was perplexed.
"But... aren't you going to tell me not to be so silly? That I should stop getting myself into a state and pull myself together? That it's hard for everyone right now?"
"No," said Piglet boldly. "No Pooh, I’m not going to say any of those things."
“But - " said Pooh.
"I can't change the world right now," continued Piglet. "And I am not going to patronise you with platitudes about how everything will be okay, because I don't know that.
"What I can do Pooh, I can make sure that you know that I’m here. And that I will always be here, to listen; and to support you; and I’m going to make sure that you know that you’re heard.
"I can't make those anxious feelings go away, but I can promise you that whilst I have breath left in my body...you won't ever need to feel those anxious feelings alone…..because I am here for you”
And it was a strange thing, because even as Piglet said that, Pooh could feel some of his anxiety start to loosen it’s grip on him and he could feel it start to slither away into the forest, cowed by his friend, who sat there stolidly next to him.
Pooh felt like he had never been more grateful to have Piglet in his life.
Many of us feel like Pooh sometimes, but Piglets are out there everywhere, they’re all around us, quietly supporting us and sticking by us.
Take a minute to work out who is your piglet.
