Life Giving 3: First Hand Information

“Fred” was having a hard time. He had burned through three jobs in a couple of years. Worse than that, he had crashed a couple of dreams pretty badly too. I heard through the grape vine that he was back from his latest adventure.

I asked a mutual friend how Fred was doing. I loved his response. He said that he knew some people who had seen Fred since he came back and they all said that Fred was a real mess.

So my friend did a hugely life giving thing. He invited Fred and his family over for dinner to find out for himself what was going on. Fred accepted the invitation and poured out his frustrations as well as his current strategy for going forward in life.

At the end of the day, my friend didn’t do any tangible life giving. Fred didn’t need a job, or money, or housing, or his car fixed.

What my friend did was give the huge emotional gift of allowing Fred to speak for himself. You see, Fred is just a little bit quirky at times. He is a visionary with a hot flame. He doesn’t do Main Street very well. Suave and debonair don’t describe Fred.

When you are a visionary and you announce a dream and then fail to achieve it, people talk – behind your back.

To simply give Fred a chance to speak for himself was a river of life for him. So simple. Just ask, then listen. I’m glad someone did it for Fred.

Copyright by Arthur Burk

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