I’m a night owl and late night phone calls are perfect for me. But when a late night call comes from an early bird, it’s necessary to carefully listen as they usually have something they want to say and can’t fall asleep til they talk it out. Ms. Early Bird was very tired when she called, and that in itself suggests the importance of paying attention to her by carefully listening. She was so tired that the number of yawns coming from the other end of the phone nearly put me to sleep. Ms. Early Bird wears her heart on her sleeve and helps anyone in need. In the process she wears herself to a frazzle and needs to recoup. There should be a beautiful spa for people who always seem to put themselves last in the game of life. They can talk with people who will understand them and at the same time renew themselves in luxurious surroundings. And it should be mandatory for them to go at least once a year. That’s the only way their own selves will be taken care of.
There are times when I’m a wee bit concerned about Ms. Early Bird. The reason is that in putting everyone’s needs before her own. it’s very easy for people to take advantage of her. She’s modest and doesn’t appreciate her own worth, When you recognize the goodness in her, you want to protect her. That’s an impossible task because this gentle one doesn’t see that she’s doing too much at the expense of herself. Trying to convince her that care of self is a good thing makes you look like a cad, and you sense that the thought is occuring to her that maybe she’s called the wrong person. So what is there to do for Ms. Early Bird? Simply listen to her.
But maintaining ourselves in a state of balance is vital. Otherwise we’ll become a doormat and basically we’re telling the Universe that that’s the role we intend to play in life. This could mean that we’ll be the one skipped over when it comes to receiving the things that bring happiness (“your kind of happy.” – Shadowlands), harmony, beauty, freedom, etcetera, into our life. Helping others is a good thing, of course, but being a doormat is not. Giving and receiving-a balance-is important. And now perhaps you’re thinking of someone such as Mother Teresa who, we have read, gave of herself many times over. Possibly her spiritual life gave her the balance she needed. And it’s doubtful that she would neglect that part of her life, so she was assured of balance. Mother Teresa’s story would seem like a category reserved for an entirely different way of life, an evening’s worth of discussion.
I found out that Ms. Early Bird was simply exhausted from a grueling week of commitments. Of course, she worked a few additional shifts because colleagues needed time off – she was spent into fatigue. It would be nice if simply listening helped put things into perspective for her.
“If you are losing your leisure, look out; you may be losing your soul.” -Logan Pearsall Smith