if i may be self-helpy for a moment

It's tempting to lose sight of your vision for life as you find yourself consumed in Other People's Dreams and Other People's Projects. I am all for helping others. I am all for engaging in other people's projects - with awareness. But I think there's a danger in (myself and many of my helper-type peers) becoming so consumed with someone else's dream that we forget to pursue our own.

Excerpt from How to Create your Personal Manifesto, by happiness/socialmedia blogger Gwen Bell. I've not read much of her stuff, don't know how good she is, but this bit of text struck a chord for me.

I'm not usually comfortable with making sweeping statements on the kind of person I am (because no matter what I have to say about myself, I seem to prove it wrong - even if sometimes just by interpretation), but I think I might be one of those "helper-type" people - sad as it may be. It gets exhausting.

Along with Other People's Dreams and Other People's Projects, I know I've been susceptible in the past to getting caught up in Other People's Dramas. It's hard to say no to someone who says they're genuinely upset by a huge problem and really needs your help - sometimes it makes me blind for awhile to any actions that indicate they're not really that upset, the problem really isn't that big, and they want more attention than help. Whoooo, not meaning to sound cynical there, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I wanted to share in case any of you also get caught up in stuff like that, and could do with the mental stickynote. Props if you know how to deal with it, without turning apathetic and sadistic. Please share if you do. :)

For now, I'm enjoying the AoM How to Be Resilient guides, and whatever TED talks that Mark and Chips send me about brainology.