Your immediate needs and see what you have to give.

I was reading an article in Christianity Today that confirmed what I have been thinking about recently; life is more than the things you struggle with or the physical needs that are so easy to see. There is a greater purpose. For you and for me.

Since I got optic neuritis in 2001 I have lost the ability to notice people or things beside me. When I’m leaving anywhere I lift my hand to wave but never turn as I’m at risk of falling. Leading on from that, I recognise that my entire attention is on the next physical step I need to take, or the next challenge I must overcome, and never on the other things I have to offer others.

I don’t think that this is a problem uniquely for me. Everyone has something that clouds their vision- it could be the baby you are caring for, the job that claims all your time, the absorbing vocation that narrows your vision, the hurt that fills up your thoughts, the anger that weighs you down, the physical pain that gives you no peace. We all have something, but my question is, what else?

What else do you have to offer? Who else has been blind sided by your pressing struggle? How can you be freed to see other people and additional uses in your life that are waiting in the sidelines to be seen again?

Never rule out what you can do for other people. Don’t let your primary obsession push out all the other purposes you have. I’m off to have a think about the world and the needs around me, and the things I have to offer that I’ve long forgotten about. I think low self-esteem may be what stops us, believing that we have nothing to offer. That’s rubbish. Think of the seemingly tiny things that have been done for you, and how much they meant. Nothing is too small when it comes to kindness. Even you reading this is doing something for me.😊

Be defiant . Don’t let your circumstances prevent you from recognising how you can impact the lives of those around you. Believe that you have something of value to offer and have the courage to do it. Of course, it might be that you are the one who needs help right now, not the other way round. I truly hope there is someone close by who sees that.