Who Are You Helping?

Have you ever been swimming and needed a life preserver? Ever had your boat spring a leak and start to sink just as the wind stopped blowing? Have you ever been hiking and had the weather turn on you so quickly you started to get scared? Have you ever been so sure that life was over that you actually started to give up? Have you ever needed help?

I was asked a question over the weekend that sparked a series of memories where I was in impossible situations and needed the help of others. In each memory, help showed up; big or small, help came. It did not always come in the manner I thought it would, or even should show up…but it did show up nonetheless. With each encounter of fear I had to take on courage and fight things like doubt, self-defeat, fear, envy, and hatred. In most cases, I still remember the struggle, both physical and mental. The bruises from some of these encounters are still tender in the recesses of my memory.

In the biggest moments of needing help, someone or something – arrived just in time. In my exhaustion I remember my swimming teacher, Ms. Sarah, teaching me how to float… and so I made it to shore; In my small sailboat, I found an oar left there ‘just-in-case.’  In the mountains I remembered my boy scout wilderness survival skills-  a shelter appeared in the form of two fallen trees and broad leaf plants -[(delete this – Compliments of the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared;”] When on a bike ride a truck pulled over and drove me the 20 miles home – compliments of a retired Marine Corp hero and a healthy measure of humility.

So, what was the question that sparked these memories?

“So, David, Who are you helping?”

Someone out there needs your help. They need your knowledge, skills, abilities; they need your help in remembering how to dream of a better life. Someone is truly needy, impoverished, malnourished, alone, abused…and you are the help they need.

I believe this is where you will find your calling. This is where you will discover the path you should be on. This is where you get the opportunity to be the help others need… because in the end, “Me, Me, Me is dull, dull, dull.” (see Tom Stanley’s collection of writings)

So, Who are you helping?