The overflow

Image courtesy of NBN weather shots
Image courtesy of NBN weather shots

Sometimes life feels abundant. Overflowing.

I feel like that at the moment. I have been given so much over the last couple of years.

When you get married and subsequently pregnant, people rally around you and shower you in love. It’s completely humbling. The Spark and I have been the recipients of wild amounts of generosity.

Prior to the last couple of years though, I went through a period of major scarcity. Between divorce, a huge tax bill, moving house several times, changing jobs, taking a huge pay cut, and a house fire that destroyed most of my belongings, I was flat broke and emotionally struggling.

And then my cat had to be put down.

And I got dumped a bunch of times by guys more at home in a police line-up than a dating site.

There was a time when I could barely afford rent and food. A bus fare was pushing things.

It wasn’t good.

So that’s why I feel inclined to do something for other people now that things are looking up.

When we don’t have any overflow – when we are barely able to look after our most pressing needs – it’s unfair to expect donations of time, energy or money. You can’t fill a cup from an empty vessel.

But if you are in a state of flood – where you have more blessings than you know what to do with – it makes sense to share some of that.

It also makes sense that people should be able to ask for help, without it setting up a negative dynamic. Neediness is repellent – it’s a weird human trait that the minute someone needs something from us we get freaked out and avoid them.

But there is something powerful in the concept of being able to ask for help without neediness, and being able to give in a completely light-hearted way that doesn’t deplete us. Simply, ‘I have too much. You have too little. Let the natural state of osmosis begin.’

Maybe we can find ways of giving and receiving overflow freely?

Do you feel comfortable asking for help?

I recently asked a bunch of my friends about which organisations they support. Here are a few that topped the list if you’re feeling like you have too much time and money on your hands:

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