Two days into working with my partner (which has been extremely exhausting), I have learned a lot. So she lets me handle her Twitter account, which has over 62k followers, and I occasionally get to check her Twitter DMs and such.
Yesterday night, I was surprised at some of the messages she had, some of them were offering her money to sell a particular product, some others were asking for support, others were begging for a follow back to get so they can kickstart their Attention economy Career.
Of course, she was not responding to any of these DMs, and I also remembered texting her and pitching her a business idea. She could have never responded, and I would have moved on, but perhaps she found something particularly appealing in my offer and chose to respond.
There are many areas of my life where I currently require her assistance, but instead I chose to offer her what I can do.
Rich/POOR
Life can be hard, it's easy to key into the "POOR/RICH" segregation. I mean, there is nothing wrong with accepting that you are poor and someone else is rich, but believing and accepting the long-term viability of this mindset will always keep you dependable.
For example, I am chronically ill and suffering from health complications, and while I know I need help at times, I do not want to accept that I always do. Instead I want to give something that makes me worthy to receive something.
I do not believe that life provides unlimited freebies; instead, I believe that life requires you to give something in order to receive something else. It does not matter if your offer is insignificant in comparison to what you will receive.
Accept the reality of unfairness
It is easier for people who are already established in life. For example, my partner recently listed a painting she did for 0.6 ETH, and she is probably doing well in life; her painting career has helped her build a large fanbase online, and when I texted her, my goal was to sell her an idea rather than beg her for anything.
Of course, she is generally a good person (as far as I know), but I do not see people as "good"; I see them for who they are, and whether we are friends or not, I will always want to contribute.
I repeat, life isn't fair and it's sad, but sometimes being poor or rich is a mentality, you choose not to accept it as a reality, and this can push you to a state where you find it discover value within yourself.
Again, I am not saying you should be or live in denial. For example, I mentioned my condition earlier; I have accepted it because it is genetic, but if I could change it, I would keep working hard to do so. The idea is to never accept situations that are changeable, even if they are difficult or painful.
Empathy can be exhausted
True, we can gain empathy; however, there are times when we truly require assistance that we are unable to provide for ourselves. Everyone has times in their lives when they are vulnerable, weak, defenseless, and handicapped, but these are temporary situations that are not meant to last forever.
We are not meant to stay in changeable positions in life, and sometimes we must disagree with forces that want to confine us to one position. Empathy from others can be fleeting; people can only do so much for us, so it is critical that we do not exhaust their empathy by constantly relying on them.
People have elasticity limits, including those who love us; it may take longer, but they do. We can choose for others to see us as burdens; however, life can make us burdens to others, cursed to be dependent beyond our control, but we can still try.
You do not want to show up only to have people ignore or look away because they do not want to help. It is almost as if they can predict when you will need their assistance, and your current state of affairs sometimes confirms this.
Value can be exclusive
While we cannot all provide value, some people must be superior to others. The disparity in life stages traps us in the rat race of "I am going to make it." There is nothing wrong with that.
Because many people are not born into "made" situations in life. This is why there are more "self-made" billionaires rather than "my father made me a billionaire." Again, this is not about money; it is about attempting to see yourself differently, rather than what or who life has made you.
Not your illness, nor your financial situation, but how you fight to change the stereotype. I have been subjected to numerous common stereotypes throughout my life. It can be difficult, and I have cried about them in the past; I still do, but because they are beyond my control, I try to fight the battles I can and leave the ones I can't.
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