Is there a difference between caregiving and giving service? Are they not the same? Let’s see…
Often when we are caregiving, we can be acting out of a need to be needed.
Perhaps we tell ourselves others can’t do without us; they need our help to survive.
Sometimes obligation is the driving force behind our caregiving.
Caregiving can be more about our self than actually caring for another. Can you see the difference in caring FOR someone vs caring ABOUT someone?
I’ve spent a lot of time as a caregiver. I often felt depleted and unappreciated. See, I wasn’t giving to give... I was giving to get. My exhaustion came because I was acting from sacrifice.
Pure service involves no sacrifice.
There is no feeling of self depletion because service doesn’t come FROM me...it comes THROUGH me.
Service comes when we are open to how we can support another with no thought to our own agenda.
----------------------------------------
So I am learning it’s okay to say no to caregiving…and start saying yes to service giving.
But along this road of service, I also learned this: Service starts with self love. Divine Connection.
We can only love another equal to the love we have for our self.