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Something of Which I Need to be More Mindful

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Submitted by Sunni on Sun, 2007-11-18 22:10. |

I don’t know which is more accurate to say of me—that I like to give of myself to others, or that I like to help others. (In my mind those aren’t exactly the same things.) Irrespective of which it is, sometimes my offering isn’t wanted. Maybe that’s true more often than I know ... maybe it’s behind some of the failures to follow up that happen. I probably will never know. I do think that I am often too pushy in my desire to give and/or help ... but hearing this the other day stopped me in my tracks:

A person cannot give unless there’s someone out there who wants to receive.

I think, in addition to channeling my inner two-year-old more often, it would serve me very well to not pursue my desire to assist when there’s no one around, hoping or waiting to receive some help.

That said, I do have an idea in the works that I think could benefit multiple people at once. I need to get a little more caught up on some tasks before unleashing it, so you seven readers are safe for a little while longer. I do recommend sleeping lightly, though ...

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Sleeping lightly

Submitted by PintofStout on Mon, 2007-11-19 10:59.

That's why I couldn't sleep last night? Here I thought it was 'cause I had slept so long Saturday night.

It seems to me that the 'helping someone who doesn't want help' or 'the one who needs the most help, doesn't want it' idea is a main theme in the Redford movie A River Runs Through It.

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What is "help?"

Submitted by Mama Liberty on Mon, 2007-11-19 18:10.

All through the years of working with and training nurses I had to deal with this dilemma many times, both me with them and me/them with patients. It is a very common problem, and I'm probably as guilty of giving unwanted or misunderstood "help" as anyone.

I've learned to listen carefully, ask questions and find out as much as possible what the other person actually needs (or thinks they need) before I offer anything. Usually this prevents me from spinning my wheels or offending others, but there is no guarantee. :)

Those who don't wish to take responsibility for themselves and do for themselves as much as possible, however, usually can't be helped at all. I have finally learned that trying to help them is destructive to both of us, sad as that is.

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National Ammo Day

Submitted by Presto on Mon, 2007-11-19 21:14.

Sleep? It's National Ammo Day! Hope you got up early to get your ammo today! In any case, there's probably a lot of people shooting targets today in celebration, so sleep is probably out of the question in the sticks.

edited to add: I should probably add that the reason I said this is I recently went hiking near the town that bears my name and found more brass on the trail than leaves. I heard some folks shooting full auto just up the hill from me. Needless to say, I got the hell out of there.

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You forgot to use the word...

Submitted by Bob Wallace on Tue, 2007-11-20 06:24.

"mommy."

A few years ago somehow I hurt my back and couldn't bend over. Unfortunately, one shoelace came untied...on the sidewalk.

So here I am trying to reach my shoelace, and can't bend over.

What happens? Some strange woman sees me and ties my shoelace for me! She said, "It's a mother thing."

Yeah, and here she is tying my shoelace for me on the street, like I'm a four-year-old.

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