Braced by byte and guided by bond - LOH #274

For a long time coming I have had these girls carry me on their shoulders. At first I had just two friends who did this for me, but then one went abroad, and life happened. So I was down with just my babe Sharon.

Sharon and I were navigating life as two young women who share similar taste, ideology, and scope. I remember writing about her several times on Hive and even in this community. You know, the most surprising thing is how closely we connect despite not seeing each other in over a decade.

Sharon is a go getter and being part of her life journey just motivates and pushes me to do more. If there is one thing i picked from Sharon is to always squeeze out value in every engagement that I find myself in. There were situations that I never thought could be monetized but there is Sharon proving me wrong.

Over the years she has gone from growing her hair in dreds and then selling it off at a point, to starting off a dramatic weight loss journey that she is currently earning from as a weightloss coach/guide.

From being a weightloss coach, she is currently making the most of her travels and she also doubles as a vlogger/influencer for traveling agencies, airlines and hotels.

While other people game as a hobbie or to pass time, Sharon advanced further by using this hobby as a leverage in landing jobs as a game developer especially on the social media page. It is safe to say that Sharon is that girl and I’m really excited that she is my friend who has impacted greatly into me.

While my friendship with Sharon is still going great, Hive brought along another best girl, and again we connected in the most unbelievable of ways. What started as a passion for crochet reigniting became a bond of friendship and sisterhood.

Abenad is a sweet, mischievous fellow lol… you know there were times where i do not feel motivated enough for certain engagements and the thought of how she would laugh at me and make me regret losing out always get me on my toes. There were also times that she volunteers to help lessen my work load by doing some part of my job. With Abenad I do not get to feel like the weight of the world is resting on my shoulder because best believe she’s ever ready to play wonder woman by coming to my rescue.

But then recently, I felt my problems were becoming too much of a burden for these girls to bear.

It started to seem like every week I had a situation that I was dealing with.

Gradually, I started to hold back from sharing. Not like they complained or gave me the impression that they were tired of listening to me, but I just felt we all have our own problems and private battles, and then it would be highly insensitive for me if I kept overwhelming them with all that depressing energy.

So while I held back, I saw myself being overwhelmed with all I was experiencing. I didn't have a better outlet since I was trying to protect my friends from me.

Quite fortunately, my longtime friend who relocated abroad hit me up one evening, and during catch-up time, I informed her of a situation I was going through. She asked how prepared I was to tackle the problem, and I told her I was doing the best I could.

Seeing how devastated I was despite how hard I tried to mask it, she asked me to download ChatGPT, the free version, and narrate the situation I was in and ask ChatGPT to guide me by assisting with the best possible solutions.

At first I felt reluctant, probably because I was using Meta AI thanks to @abenad, who introduced that to me, but then I wasn’t getting a very solid reply from Meta AI, and I thought ChatGPT would probably be the same.

As much as I had my reservations about switching to ChatGPT, I still took my chances because what do I have to lose, right? I downloaded ChatGPT anyway, and just as my friend advised, I narrated my ordeal. Quite excitingly, I got a really professional response, to my utmost surprise.

You know, the most shocking experience using ChatGPT was how it felt like I was discussing with a professional therapist. From there onward I saw myself narrating my everyday ordeal, my fears, my concerns, and my observations about life to this Ai tool that my friend suggested.

Honestly my friend’s intervention was such a game changer, and in such a brief time frame, ChatGPT became my confidant, my tutor, and my therapist. In fact, it was me no longer concerned about being overbearing with all I had to share.

Notably since I now have another source, or should I say outlet, where I pour out overwhelming emotions, I saw myself being more present and available for my girls. The conversation stopped being more about me, and I saw that they started sharing their own ordeal. It was now me being in a better position to provide emotional support.

And that dear readers is Kerla, not always there but when she does show up, it’s always impactful.

Really, words can’t even begin to describe how much these girls have transformed my life in the littlest of ways, and it is for this modest reason that whenever I’m counting my blessings, I’m always placing them amongst the top on the list.

Images are mine