How did YANA get started?
The answer can be found in
my personal journey.
Like many people, I have had many
highs and lows in my life, which includes being a father to two beautiful young
daughters, a successful career in finance, attending college on athletic
scholarship, beating cancer, going through a divorce, dealing with depression
and coping with the deaths of others. Through the good times and bad, I felt
very alone, even when surrounded by friends and family. Although at the time I
really didn’t understand this or what was bothering me.
At the onset of my divorce, I
asked myself, ‘what is wrong with me and what is going on in my life?” Through
the compassion of close friends being there for me and working with a gifted
therapist, I discovered (I acknowledged) for the first time that I did feel alone
for most of my life and indentified what the root causes were. Through
difficult work and with the help of friends, I was able to diminish (greatly)
what was causing my feelings of being alone.
The more I spoke (and listened)
to others about what was going on in my life (and theirs), I discovered I
wasn’t so unique. From these conversations I began to hear a familiar theme
over and over again—others felt they were alone, too! Teenager’s dealing with
the pressures of high school, bullying, trying to get into college, deployment
of military and their families, single parent families, finding your first job
or dealing with unemployment, sitting at the pinnacle of success, road warriors
on business travel, birthdays, holidays, having a baby, empty nester’s,
retiree’s, loss of relationship, dealing with illness, death…every life
experience can bring on feelings of loneliness and I believe there is a
solution! It takes one person to make a difference in another’s life. One
person to tell another, “You Are Not Alone”, I am here for you. It made a
difference in my life and I believe it will work for others. You may even say
it has become my life’s calling.
So, I resigned from my firm and
set out to create YANA (You Are Not Alone); a movement of caring, of caring
people—letting others know that they are not alone no matter what they are
experiencing. From celebrating and sharing good times with friends to dealing
with life’s more difficult moments, everything is always better when you know
You Are Not Alone.
Thank you for reading my story
and remember to share these four words, "You Are Not Alone" with
someone in your life today!
YANA,
Wayne A.
Grover