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Many times in our lives, we are faced with a friend who needs our help. In trying to help them, we try to figure out the best ways to do that, even though we may feel that the answer may be staring them in the face. We have often heard it said in the spiritual world that when we seek advice, 'the answer lies within us'. There are some good questions that should be answered by the person who is seeking help. Many times it takes somebody on the outside to get that person to look inside themselves for answers.

We can help a friend by getting them to think about and answer the question, 'How do I feel about this problem?' Many times a person may be so involved in their own troubles that they don't even stop to think about how they really feel. If they took the problem out of their own life and looked it from a different angle, how would they feel about it? We need to be able to get that person to really think about their problem from a different perspective and try to come up with some solutions that might help solve the problem.

To be able to solve a problem, we need to get our friend, or even ourselves, to ask, 'Is this good for me? Is it good today both mentally, physically and spiritually? Will it be just as good for me tomorrow and every day after that?' We may think that being able to answer those questions should be easy and sometimes they are, at least in part. We may understand that the solution will be good for us physically but we may not have thought about what it will be doing to us emotionally or even spiritually.

As we try to figure out if our problem can easily be solved by talking about it, our bodies may have a different idea, so we need to ask, 'What does my body have to say about this?' Most often, when we have some kind of problem and try to solve it by taking shortcuts, our bodies respond negatively. If we are not being true to ourselves with out solution, we might end up with a headache, stomach ache or back ache.

Many people don't listen to their bodies because they don't trust what their body is telling them. Our bodies are a confusing blend of our wants, needs and desires, which may not agree with our mental state or our emotional needs. It has been said hat our bodies are a 'confusing blend of God's handiwork and the devil's playground.' Our intelligence tells us that we really do have an interconnection of all our parts. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells that together form an awareness club that we can turn to when we are confused about a problem or a solution.

We are always reminded to relax and listen to our bodies. Is our stomach bothering us? Could that be the 'gut reaction' that we are looking for? Is our heart pounding? Could that be the excitement of starting over or the anxiety of something being lost? If helping someone with their problems causes their feelings to explode, could that be an insight that will lead to another path?

When we look for answers, we can think of a person that we trust to give us guidance. We can se your inner knowledge to decide who to trust. If we relax for a few minutes, breathe deeply, we can see what image will come to us. Can you envision your grandparent's face as one to be trusted? If the face doesn't seem appropriate to the situation, it may be that person plays a part in the situation or the problem. We need to use our rational mind to choose the person whose guidance we seek.

As we help a friend (or ourselves) solve a problem, we need to remember that we are trying to learn to live each day to the fullest. We can offer support, encouragement, and suggestions to the problems but as we face detours, we need to answer the important questions and take the high road with our answers. That is truly to only way we can help a friend in need. So, ask the questions and follow your answer, or have them do the same.