Once upon a time in the mythical City of Newport Beach in the Fiefdom of Orange in the paradise of the Republic of Kalifornia lived two finance managers who worked with the fiefdom.
Around this time the City of Newport Beach and the Fiefdom of Orange had stored many bags of gold, silver and spices in the local banks, holding companies and stock accounts. 
They kept this treasure for the peasants, nobles and county employees of the fiefdom.
Then along came some pirates and swindlers who scammed the finance managers and seriously depleted the gold, silver and spices belonging to the fiefdom, its council, the people and all the nobles and their families. It didn’t help that there was an economic downturn and higher interest rates throughout the whole republic.
There were some questions about the ethics and competency of both finance managers while they themselves experienced depletion of their own accounts of gold, silver and spices.
Soon they were threatened with arrest by the emperor’s men, the sheriff of Orange and some others who also wanted to sue them. They had to sell their houses, then their wives left them, and their children and pets refused to speak to them, especially, the dogs. The finance managers were very sad.
The first finance manager was found several weeks later in a dark run-down apartment, surrounded by pizza boxes, unshaven, ungroomed and ready to be committed to a place that takes care of very, very, very sad people.
The second finance manager was very sad as well, but he lived with his brother-in-law, Melvin, in Melvin’s attic in Burbank, another mythical city, rumored to be very hot in the summer. Yet the second finance manager was not so sad. In fact, after awhile he was less and less sad. More over, he had hope and a plan. A plan to get back on his feet and slowly it was working.
Now, children, you may ask, “Why the difference? Why did one man do well and while the other was cast into a pit with other very, very, very sad people?”
The first finance manager, ran away from his work, his family and his life to that low-rent apartment He could not face his shame and failure and he certainly did not want to tell his friends about it
The second finance manager hailed all his friends in the fiefdom and asked them to meet him at Benny’s, a roadside inn, with mythical grub. There the friends met the second finance manager in a big booth. It was there that he laid out the whole story about the fiefdom financial collapse and his part in it.
He unburdened his heart, talked about wife leaving him, his children and pets, especially the dog, not speaking to him and all of his mistakes and woes. Most importantly, his friends listened and accepted him, They would pray for him and agreed to connect with him, with one member of the group to meet with him for lunch every day of the week for a month. Several months later he was not sad anymore. His wife returned, as did some of his fortune. And his children spoke to him once again. The dog took a while but, he too, finally relented and his canine heart warmed towards the second finance manager.
Whether you’re a dog, a finance manager or both, connection is paramount to healthy and excellent living. A wise King in a non-mythical Kingdom, called Israel, once said, “A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” – Ecclesiastes 4:12b
Can you reach out to people who can support you if trouble comes? Do you have the day-to-day or week-to-week support that helps create healing and growth?
Know the power of God in the power of the other.
See The Power Of The Other by Henry Cloud
Work Life Clinic by Kit Hill, Ed.D. LMFT 