Energy
It's been a while since I've updated on my New Year's resolution for this year. I think I've done pretty well this year. I've certainly made a good effort to help others and my optimism hasn't flagged. Yet I do sometimes feel tired when progress in certain projects slows or appears non-existent. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I wonder if I need to ration my energy, to change my priorities to conserve my energy. A recent horoscope touched on this issue, noting that "sometimes you give out more energy than you receive, you . . . support other people . . . , but sometimes you don't receive from them in return. Today you could notice that you are feeling a bit tired or drained. This could be because of this energy imbalance."
As I've said before, we must take care of ourselves first because we need to be strong to help others. It does indeed take a lot of energy to help others, especially when, as is so often the case, the efforts to help take an extended period to bear fruit. Although I don't accept that there's anyone who can't be helped, many don't want help, some are so difficult to help that we run out of resources before we can help and many need more specialized help than we can provide. Still others are so mistrustful of their fellow humans that they don't believe someone is trying to help them. These obstacles don't eliminate my desire to help but they may require me to devote my limited resources to other, more productive targets.
It's not a contradiction to say that we want to help everyone but we can't help everyone. We might wish we could help everyone but even the best of us has limited resources. For that reason and the other reasons noted above, we're lucky if we can help anyone. We have to recognize our own limitations and proceed accordingly. If we want to help anyone, we have to focus on those we can help. Those whose needs outstrip our resources, those who don't want or need our help, those who resist our efforts to the point that our energy is depleted have to be crossed off our lists.
Do your best to help others but don't waste your energy, don't spread your efforts so thin that you don't help anyone. In that way, you will help and you'll retain the energy to continue to help.
10-24-05
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