We all want to help.

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There is an innate desire to contribute and support those around us.

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Especially our family and friends.

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Yet it is easy to fall into a trap when we do.

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It is the trap that causes us to lose our balance.

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To make others more important than ourselves.

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And we end up living our lives for other people.

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It may sound noble, but it is not.

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To have a life that truly inspires others, we have to include ourselves.

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Doing everything for the other people in our life is not sustainable.

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When we do it not just for days, butfor weeks and years, it will leave us hollow.

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It can drain us beyond measure.

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Until one day we wake up and we realise that there is nothing in our life that is just for us.

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That we have missed out on a life of joy and happiness in exchange for one of responsibility and obligation.

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For in all our giving through our life we have included the most important person.

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Ourselves.

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We must fill up our own cup to the point of overflow to truly give from a place of joy.

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For when we give from a place of joy and not obligation, then we can truly give the other person what they need.

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Not what they want, but what they need.

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When we find ourselves in situations that have gone far beyond what we expected can it be hard to pull ourselves out.

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Yet we must, even if others disagree or are disappointed in us.

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For a life spent living only for other people is not a life worth living.

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It is slavery to an idea that is not sustainable.

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So let us fill up our own cup.

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Let's find the joy and fun in our life that makes it feel worth it to be alive.

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And in the process we can include helping others, when it truly serves them and not enable them.

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That is a life worth living.

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So where in your own life have you lived for others and not included yourself?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant

Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour