Friday, November 8, 2013

206: The Blind Bandit


Monk Gyatso:   Sometimes when someone has a disability or challenge, we want to make things easier for them too much.   
Wanting to help others is a good motive, even divine, but we need to be careful as to how much to help others.   
When we help too much, people are either bothered because they are treated beneath their abilities, or they become too dependent upon the help offered and don’t fulfill their own potential.

When someone has a particularly difficult obstacle to overcome, they need to do their best to overcome the limitations as much as they can, but a person also needs to know when they are taking on too much, and need to accept help from others.   
On the other hand, we need to ask when we offer help, rather than just doing, so we know in what way they would like our help.  And in some situations we may need to know when we are helping someone too much, and give them pushes to try harder and reach their potential.

As parents, there is a difficult balance to strike between protection and freedom.  This is difficult because each child and each situation are different.  Plus, the children and situations keep changing!   
Consider these things as we deal in family relationships. It requires effort to communicate, and seek for empathy, patience, and understanding.

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