Walk Beside Me....

This past weekend I have had kind of a constant reminder of a particular theme. This idea that I have experienced started on Friday night. This particular night I was spending time with an uncle who was having some marital problems and we were out driving around trying to solve some of these issues. As the conversation progressed, we started talking about me and my nursing education (my uncle is a medical doctor). He started to ask me a lot about how school was going and how proud he was of my hard work and diligence the past few years in my college education. He proceeded to give me a lot of much needed encouragement that I have been needing to keep working hard in school. We discussed particular medical topics I was learning about and he gave a lot of suggestions to be successful.
It was at this point I realized another important life lesson. The lesson is that people who are in a position of higher ground to another individual should walk beside those people and guild them along. This can be in any arena of life, professional or personal, younger or older. Simply looking out into the vast population of people that surround you, it should not be hard to find someone you can "take under your wing". What better opportunity do we have in humanity than to save another soul, or at least better their life to some degree?
For the majority of my adult life, I have felt an ethical responsibility for this kind of compassion. We are all here for the same purpose, to achieve the same objectives. So if someone is struggling or misguided, shouldn't it be our responsibility to help redirect our fellow brother? A famous LDS painting depicts Jesus holding a sheep in his arms. This painting represents that Jesus never rested until every single sheep in his fold was accounted for and safe. If we are to be followers of Christ, I feel we should have this level of care for those around us, especially those we love.
This fall I will be graduating college with a two year degree. I have been attending college now for a few years, and in those years I have learned a few things. My fondest memories of college are the times when I have taken a pre-nursing student who did not have the slightest idea of where they should go in the education and helped guild them in a direction that I learned was the most effective. This sometimes took place by simply giving encouragement after helping them with a difficult science topic. At times I think people need to hear that more than we think, a simple "keep up the good work you are right on track". The weight of such a comment can be extremely motivating when it comes from someone who is looked up to by another, as in the case of my uncle and I.
So in conclusion, it would be my hope that we can all pay a little more attention outside ourselves and find someone to reach out to, even if its a brief moment, and walk beside them for a little while. For we may never know the significance a few steps in life may mean to someone who has a friend who has chosen to walk beside them.