Have you heard of this

 

That line is often used to mean:

 

👉 “Can you listen to me for a moment?”

👉 “I need to talk and I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

👉 “I need support and 8 minutes is enough to help calm my brain.”

There’s a saying that goes:

“Do you have 8 minutes?”

Eight minutes.
That’s all.

It sounds small, almost pointless — like what difference can 8 minutes actually make?

But when your world is falling apart,
when you’re fighting cancer,
when your heart’s been broken,
when you haven’t slept,
when chemo fog is frying your brain,
when trauma is whispering in your ear…

Eight minutes can change everything.

Eight minutes of someone listening.
Eight minutes of someone grounding you.
Eight minutes of not feeling alone.

That’s what Gavin did for me this morning without even knowing it.

When he rang at 8:05 and said, “I’m coming,”
when he showed up with PPE because he knew Mum would be in full protective mode,
when he sat at the edge of my bed and said,
“Tell me what’s going on,”
he was giving me my eight minutes.

And those eight minutes reminded me:

that I’m not carrying this alone

that someone cares whether I live or die

that my feelings matter

that heartbreak is survivable

that cancer doesn’t get to silence me

that I’m allowed to crumble and still get back up

Eight minutes.
It doesn’t seem like much, but for someone drowning,
eight minutes is the difference between sinking and resurfacing.

Even in crisis teams, they use it —
“Do you have 8 minutes?”
Meaning:

“Let me in.
Let me help.
Let me carry some of this with you.”

And today, when my mental health was hanging by a thread,
when I’d been awake since 4am shaking and crying and dreaming of someone who no longer wants me,
when chemo was burning through my veins and grief was sitting heavy on my chest…

Gavin gave me far more than eight minutes.

He gave me stability.
He gave me presence.
He gave me a moment where I wasn’t drowning in my own thoughts.

Sometimes, survival isn’t the big things.
It’s not bravery or strength or being positive.

Sometimes, survival is:

“Do you have 8 minutes?”

Check on your friend tell them if they need you just to text Do you have 8 mins ans check in on them

 

As we all pretend we are ok  xx