
There Are Times When We Need To Let Others Help
© Catherine Ripplinger Fenwick
There are times in everyone's life when we need
to let other people help. Painful illness and chronic disease can take its
toll on the patient as well as the care giver. Even everyday living can
become very demanding. We all have days when a hug, a kiss, a few kind
words or a laugh will give us the lift we need. Some days we need a lot
more.
Doing good deeds makes us feel better. Some of us get really excited
about helping others. I heard a story about a Scout leader who tried to
comfort a very distressed elderly woman who was swinging a cane at a
young Boy Scout. "Please don't be upset," he told her. "The boy just
thought that if taking you across the street is a good deed, taking you
across a six - lane highway would be even better."
Some of us get so excited about helping others we forget to take care
of ourselves. If you are a doer of good deeds, remember to take good care
of yourself. Pace yourself and don't get run down. Get plenty of support
and encouragement from your own network of friends and don't be afraid
to ask for help. Let others experience the joy of doing a good deed for you.
Look for ways you can bring fun and laughter into your life. This will
keep you going and it will have a positive affect on everyone around you.
If you want to laugh a lot hang around with children. Even when their lives
are threatened, children can maintain a sense of humour.
Erma Bombeck in her book about children living with cancer, I Want
to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise , tells us she
discovered to her great delight, that children with cancer still play and
laugh a lot. She found these children to be full of optimism, laughter and
joy. When she told them she was surprised at their humour, one child said,
"Would you be happier if we cried all the time?"
Yesterday I was talking to a friend who works full time doing Home
Care Nursing with people who have AIDS. Most of her patients are near
death. I asked her what she does to keep up her spirits. She said, "
Number one, I love my job. Number two, dying people have a lot to give.
Number three, death is not an ending; it is a beginning. I see myself as
someone who helps others to meet death peacefully. I have a supportive
network of family and friends who remind me that life is also for the
living. And I laugh a lot. Laughter protects me from the wrong kinds of
seriousness."
Allan Luks and Peggy Payne in their book, The Healing Power of Doing
Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others, tell us about
the benefits people experience when they get involved in helping others.
It makes us feel more fully alive. We feel good about having a purpose and
doing something meaningful with our time. Helping others even has
physiological benefits, like lower blood pressure and improved mental
disposition.
Work toward balance and harmony in your life. Doers need to be
receivers, too. The best relationships are those in which there is a give
and take; each according to their own needs and capabilities. Remember
that no one can be all things to all people. As a " doer of good
deeds," do what you can, get help from others and leave the rest for
somebody else. Give other people a chance to show what they're made of!
|