Friday, November 4, 2011

What do you do for others?

On a daily basis, I run through the gambit of what I need to do for myself, my daughter, my family, but seldom do I worry if I am doing enough for others outside of that immediate group. "I am too busy" I tell myself.  "I have so much going on, how could I possibly take on more" is another favorite of mine.  Then I ponder those "special" people in our lives that somehow always manage to do more.  They do for their families, they do for their friends AND they still manage to find time to do for others.  Strangers, neighbors, community members, each group gets some time from them.  You will recognize these people as the ones that always have time to chat for a few minutes as you are going in or out of the house or when you happen to run into them at the grocery store.  They are the providers of the baked goods to the family that just had a crisis, they are the hands that help after a tragedy and they are the hands that clap at our successes.

I tend to focus on the immediate.  What do I need to get done for me and my family today, this week, this month. Beyond that I can't be bothered. Why make those plans when I don't even have time to consider what I have to do now.  Then next month rolls around and I find that everyone else is just as busy as I am, but do I learn from my mistake and plan ahead?  No, I again get wrapped up in myself and what I need to do for now.

The funniest part of this is that I have never been a procrastinator.  I have always been a planner, looking ahead onto the horizon of what comes next.  Somehow in the last year I have become someone living just for the now.  If someone asks me about the future I get flustered and brush them off.  How will I know what I am doing then? It is still so far away.

At least now I have realized where I have ended up and can steer my ship back towards the horizon rather than continue to sail in the doldrums! 

What have you done for someone else recently?

4 comments:

  1. I need to steer my ship back towards the horizon too! What a great post and wonderful reminder. Thank you. :)

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  2. Both you and Melynda recently had posts that remind us to look outside of our immediate group. Very nice post. Thoughtful...just like you.

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  3. I try to do at least one good thing every day. It's become a joke between one of my friends and I at work... "I can only be nice once a day, and that was it..."

    :)

    But honestly, I try to do something every day. It doesn't have to be big, it can be walking back into a store to hold a door, paying for someone's groceries, or walking someones kids home from the bus stop. The other day I moved a plant for my friend who was pregnant. Seems like a small thing right? No. It was a huge plant so she couldn't move it herself, and it was one thing she could cross off her list for the day. ANY ONE could have done this for her, but didn't.

    THOSE things that we just need to notice and do everyday can make a world of difference to some one else.

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  4. lol I guess you and I are similar creatures my friend. As Steph said I just posted one about helping others the other day. Well done. Probably one of your best post. Kudo's

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