Kay:
Mentorship Quest! It is the Mentorship Quest, wherever you go, we’re going with you. Well, I’m singing the Winnie the Pooh theme song because today’s quote is by Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh Bear.
Shi: See my mind goes directly deep in the hundred-acre woods. I’m like what is she saying? But that’s totally the Winnie the Pooh thing and that is totally who your quote is from today. Winnie the Pooh Bear, Pooh says, “Good friends will help you until you’re unstuck.”
Kay:
Oh, from the gentlemen always getting stuck in trees! What beautiful advice and a great quote today. He certainly does have some good friends who help little Winnie the Pooh bear get unstuck from all kinds of sticky situations. But just in case you don’t know, Pooh Bear is a fictional Teddy bear created by the English author A. A. Milne. He’s one of the most popular characters adapted for film and television by the Walt Disney Company and the Winnie the Pooh ride at Walt Disney World is adorable.
Shi:
So fun, you ride around in a little honey pot, and you see all these different scenes and it is quite fun. I think most of us probably have some childhood memories of Winnie the Pooh, whether it be the books or for me, VHS tapes, or the rides, or even now it’s like a feature-length film, a live animation but a beloved character who is simple but often so heartfelt. You can feel that in this quote here, it’s simple, but it’s heartfelt and it’s really about that power of friendship, of goodwill, of kinship, of relationship, and the power that can bring to the places in your life that sometimes feel dark and scary.
Kay:
Well, we’ve got lots of warm and fuzzies here on the power of friendship, but let’s talk about the not warm and fuzzy space of feeling stuck. Feeling stuck sucks. Stuck sucks. It doesn’t feel good to be stuck and getting unstuck is often even just a little bit more than being stuck and then you’re free. Think about getting stuck to something sticky. Pulling your skin off of that adhesive is really painful but you’re so glad to be free when it’s done. Now good friends are the kinds of people who help you get unstuck, and I just want to add something in here that says: even when it’s uncomfortable for you.
Shi:
That’s a good one to add. When Pooh Bear is stuck in the tree and his little hiney and his legs are sticking out the back and Rabbit and Tigger yank on his legs to pull him out, that does not feel good. But what feels better is being unstuck and only good friends are willing to come grab you by the leg and pull and pull until you come out of that tree, the metaphorical, or if you’re Winnie the Pooh Bear the literal.
Kay:
From a metaphorical standpoint, sometimes that means that a good friend is going to tell you the things that you don’t want to hear in order to help you. Now, I know that you know, we’re sisters, but we’re also dear friends and sometimes Shila helps hold me accountable. It’s not always things that I want to hear, but they’re always things that make me better and those really good friends will help you get unstuck when it’s uncomfortable for you and for them.
Shi:
We do that for each other. There’ll be times when Kay will say I want to challenge your thinking on that and that’s always tough, but we’ve been able to build a place in a relationship where we’re able to bring those things forward and make it for the greater good and that’s what good friends do, and good friends are really important for our health and our emotional wellbeing and our lives. Connected people have a 50% higher chance of living longer than isolated people and the statistics don’t start there. You can Google statistics around lonely people or the power of friendship and find tons and tons of reputable articles and studies that demonstrate the power of connection and relationship over and over and over again.
Kay:
Two of the good one-liners we found for you guys are that dementia is more common among lonely people than in people who are well-connected and that social ties are even proven to reduce stress. So, if maybe you’re the type of person that says I don’t like to be social, or I don’t like to have close connections because I don’t want the stress of having people around me, maybe rethink that narrative because I’ve been stuck there before certainly. But as Winnie the Pooh tells us, “It’s the good friends that will help you until you’re unstuck.”
Shi:
Alright, it’s a Thoughtful Thursday Quest today. We want you to go out of your way to reach out to a friend you may not have spoken to in a while. If you already have a friend in mind you know is feeling stuck, then reach out to them. As you ask them for an update on their life, offer your support and remind them that you’re always there for advice and helping them get unstuck. Are you ready? You know the drill.
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
