Yesterday I was talking to an old friend in Nacogdoches, Texas. I mentioned in my last blog that I lived in a community of disabled individuals for a number of years… to be exact… 6 ½ years. The old friend that I was talking to yesterday was the director of the complex for the last couple of years of my living there. She’s largely responsible for my regaining faith in humanity and the helping profession. I often wonder what my outlook would be had she not come along and I had left that environment without seeing the “good” that exists in the people.
It’s difficult to talk about this experience in my life because so many people were affected in my first four years of living in this community. Suffice it to say… there is sickness in the helping profession, the care-giving profession. There are also wonderful, giving, caring people as well who give and take with respect and boundaries. During my 6 ½ years in this community I saw both.
One of the great lessons I learned in life happened in this environment… The truth always comes out in the end. Sickness can survive and be covered up for only so long. I use the word sickness… there many words I could use. I think that there exists in the helping profession a group of individuals who get into it for the wrong reasons. (This is a whole conversation by itself… left for another entry.)
One of the first things I noticed is that were a group of individuals who repeatedly said, “All I do is give and give and give and all they do is take and take and take…” a red light ought to go off if you ever hear this. At a minimum it means that someone in the helping profession is burned out, needs help, a rest… and it can be a clue to a whole lot more.
I learned that one of the simple laws of physics applies to the helping profession… For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can only give as much as you receive. If you feel that it’s an unequal transaction then there’s probably an element of unhealthiness taking place.
The truth always comes out in the end. I am so grateful that I was fortunate enough to be around when the truth was revealed. I am grateful that my friend came along.
As always… so much more to write about regarding this entry!
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