A few days ago a text message popped up on my phone from a life-long childhood friend that said “You’re on my brain. How’s your day going?”
It took her maaaaybe 10.5 seconds to send depending on how well she paid attention in keyboarding class in 7th grade. But those ten seconds made me instantly feel seen and loved.
I think at our core, we all want to be doers. We want to be reliable and loyal and consistent and constant for the people in our lives. We WANT to show up.
A friend/family member gets diagnosed with cancer. The infertility treatment didn’t work, again. A child dies. Someone loses their job. A child is diagnosed with an incurable illness. Their dad unexpectedly died. The neighbor lost his job. A friend with small kids has the flu. A friend has depression. Someone’s just having a hard day. A new baby is born. An addict continues to wreak havoc on their family. We can’t stop thinking about a certain person even though they seem fine. Our strong, independent friend needs to feel seen and loved.
The stories are endless. And we find ourselves saying “What can I do to help?” or “Call me if you need anything.” The problem isn’t that we don’t want to help. The problem is we really want to DO something. But often can’t figure out what to do.
This was a perpetual problem for me. I wanted to help but didn’t always know how. And thus was born the Helping Others Guide. With contributions from dozens of people who have been through all the things, this comprehensive guide will move us past the “what should I do” part and get us to the actually helping part.
This PDF guide can be downloaded straight to your phone (or desktop or tablet) for instant access when someone’s name comes to mind and you want to DO something for them or show up in some way.
Included in the guide are:
- General ideas for ANY situation
- Guidelines and suggestions for taking in meals
- Specific ideas for specific situations
- Huge list of things to take or drop-off to someone in immediate need or to someone who just needs to be loved
- Acts of service we can do for other people
- The best chemo care package suggestions from chemo patients themselves
- Motivation to get to the DO part of love
“Love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.” Bob Goff
To get the guide, just click the “I want this” button below!
This quote from Brene Brown really resonates with what this guide is all about:
Often we make showing up for people harder than it needs to be. The first step is a willing and empathetic heart. The second step is to just.show.up. This guide will help you do both.
