they, who matter

"When you ask God, when you pray for Him to bestow you something, you should first cleanse yourself, your spirit. You should first let go. Learn to let go."

The priest stated during last night's Homily. While that remains to be a bit off from the readings, the statement is the first of two things that struck a chord. The other one's about the poverty of availability.

Being there for everyone carries with it its own sort of poverty. Sometimes, we are presented with circumstances that would call for us to be someone's shoulder to cry on, or someone's balloon that will keep him floating up, or someone's wall where he can lean on, or someone's stronghold that will make him feel secure.

While being somebody's someone is already a reward in itself, being too available can be draining. We run so fast and perform our roles so hard that we fail to notice the red flag - if we go any further or if we push any harder, we're bound to land flat on our backs, or worse, burned. For that matter, we end up being incapable of rendering help to anyone else. As a consequence, the rest - those who might need us - suffer.

Don't get me wrong. It is never not good to be there for those who are genuinely in need, friends and strangers alike. However, we have to remember that we can only give so much. Learn to prioritize and more importantly, a balance between their needs and our resources should always exist. How can we help if we have nothing left to give? Our own well-being matter. So I say we say, "I matter".