🐾 Pudding’s Pawsitivity - How to be there for a friend who’s struggling

Pudding wants to talk about something a little different this week. 🐾

What do you do when it’s not you who’s having the hard time?

When it’s your friend - and they’ve gone quiet, or seem sad, or are carrying something you can see but can’t reach?

It can feel really uncomfortable. You want to help. You don’t know how. You might worry about saying the wrong thing. So sometimes - without meaning to - you do nothing.

Here’s what Pudding knows:

You don’t have to say the right thing.

You just have to show up.

Here’s what showing up looks like:

Sit beside them. Even if you don’t speak. Even if neither of you says anything. Being there is saying something.

Don’t push. If they say they’re fine, you don’t have to argue with it. Just stay anyway.

Say it once, gently: “I’m here if you ever want to talk.” Then leave the door open and let them come when they’re ready.

Keep showing up in small ordinary ways - a saved seat, a shared biscuit, a walk home together.

You don’t have to fix it.

You just have to stay.

That, more than almost anything else, is what a good friend does. 🐾🫶