Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Take Away 5 - Responsibility

I have a few regrets in my life. Not all of them can I post on a blog but one of them haunted me most of yesterday.  I once knew a woman who was very ill.  She made calls for help and sometimes I showed up but not always. She eventually died by her own hand. After her funeral, I vowed to take better care of my relationships with people. While I don't feel responsible for her death, I do feel responsible for blowing her off sometimes. Today, I feel responsible for showing up when I'm aware of important events in other people's lives. "Important" can have about a million definitions. It is not for me to decide what important means to you.

TAKE AWAY: 
Be there for others even when sometimes it is inconvenient or 
uncomfortable.  We need each other.

4 comments:

  1. Very well put. I needed that reminder, thank you!

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  2. I had a few regrets about this stuff when my Mom passed away. We had a routine where I would come out to see her on the weekends and and I would take her out to breakfast and run errand with her, usually to Home Depot. There were times I just could not muster the energy to go out there and later I felt bad because my Mom was sort of a lonely person who wanted someone around to talk to. I said I HAD a FEW regrets. Meaning I don't have them anymore. I forgave myself as she would have forgiven me. I looked at the fact of moving 3300 miles to be there to take care of her as a major deposit in the emotional bank account we shared and I know she appreciated the times we did spend together.

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  3. Thanks so much for your comment "Johnny". I think most of us try to do the best we can. I'm with you ... I have forgiven myself for the regrets ... most of them ... but I never want to forget so as to not fall into some of my old behaviors.

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  4. Such a good point, and well put at that. It is often easy to set that which is important to another aside, especially when something else seem more prominent and important to you. Also a good reminder of how someone can be taken from you before you get the chance to 'make up' for the things you missed out on doing or were putting off. We never know how much time we have with those we care about. We need to make the most of it every opportunity we get.

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