Giving and Receiving

Giving and receiving does not always come easy and naturally for some of us. Sometimes we make a conscious effort to reach out and open up. We may share a difficult challenge or feeling with a close friend, or we can look into ways to volunteer and share our resources with someone in need. Other times, the situation finds us without us looking for it. Maybe a friend, neighbour or family member needs our help. I’ve recently experienced this. My husband sprained his ankle playing sports. He couldn’t walk on his left foot for a while, he had to wear a brace and he couldn’t drive his standard car. He was upset that it happened right at the beginning of summer. He felt incapacitated and annoyed that he had lost some of his independence. He had to adjust to a new schedule filled with physiotherapy sessions, stretching and sitting, while letting go of high impact sports. In the beginning, he resisted the new situation. He tried to control it by looking for everything available under the sun that could help his ankle recover to perfection. It was hard for him to let go and accept help, as well as to accept help the way it was given, rather then his perfect idea of what it should be. I took on additional responsibility and took care of him the best I could. I had a hard time accepting his feelings and I tried to distract him or “fix” the way he felt. We both learned valuable  lessons and we managed to eventually be there for each other that brought us even closer. He got used to rely on others, being more acceptant of things outside of his control and me finding a way to just hold the space for him with love and compassion without rushing the recovery process or trying to make the pain/suffering go away. Once you open up to receive, you are more willing to give in return and to be grateful. Once you start giving, you become more compassionate with yourself as well.

This entry was posted on 18. June 2010 at 15:15 and is filed under Transitions, Family Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.