“If they don’t appreciate your presence, perhaps you should try giving them your absence.” – Tinku Razoria
The year 2016 is coming to a close. As is customary, I often find myself pondering the challenges and discoveries of the last twelve months.
Today, as I sit here writing this post, I find myself reflecting on the people of 2016. Most notably, those selfless individuals who continually find themselves on the receiving end of being taken for granted.
Some might argue that those who find themselves in such circumstances are in fact the ones to blame. That their good-natured, compassionate behavior is often the reason why they’re exploited by those who are more self-serving.
My grandmother was a wonderful person – raised to be caring, selfless and available to offer assistance to anyone who needed it. Because of those qualities, she was often taken for granted by friends and family, though it rarely seemed to bother her.
But I can tell you it did bother her later on in life. Suddenly all those individuals she unselfishly gave her time to, couldn’t find the time to spend with her.
When age finally began to take a toll on my grandmother, her usefulness to those she helped for so many years was gone.
Even at the end of her life, my grandmother harbored no bitterness towards those who had taken her for granted. She did what she did by simply being true to the person she was – her fulfillment coming from the sheer satisfaction of helping others.
It may be a choice, but…
While being taken for granted may very well be a choice, it’s not always so black and white.
When the words compassionate and charitable are used to describe you, it’s almost impossible to say “no” when it means putting someone else’s needs ahead of your own.
I truly applaud those individuals, and I’m proud to say that I’m very well acquainted with a handful of them.
But as we enter into the year 2017, ask yourself who are you taking for granted?
Has your self-serving behavior blinded you from seeing everyone who helps you?
Is the only thing you have to offer those individuals nothing more than complaints and criticisms?
One day in the unforeseen future, you may find yourself questioning why your life is void of the presence of others.
During those times, it’s important to remember that, “Even the most caring people can get tired of being taken for granted.” – Nishan Panwar
Praise for this, Craig. There is so much to read about why we should NOT go out of our way to help people (especially when they seem unappreciative). But we hear little of the reasons we SHOULD be there for people, in spite of what we get in return.
Perhaps only those who help are able to see how often they are helped, as well. Seems that would be incentive, too.