Givers

I belong to an exclusive club of people that live on this Earth - a club of givers. It's so exclusive, in fact, that up until I graduated high school I thought maybe I was the only member I would ever know. If you're lucky, you might meet one or two in your lifetime and get to know them, even befriend them. Last year, I met two, and they've become two of my best friends. 

Givers can be very mysterious. We love easily, and to us that means we will help you in your time of need, no matter the difficulty and sacrifice. More importantly, we do it without being prompted, without being asked. We hate to ask for anything in return and tend to keep to ourselves. We prefer not to burden you with our problems, but we will offer to help carry yours. 

I think the word is selfless. 

But being a giver can be a problem. Because there are so few of us, meeting another giver is rare, and other givers are really the only people that givers can have equal relationships with. Since we don't like to ask for anything in return, that's the only time we receive as much as we give. As you can see, it's easy to take advantage of a giver. Givers like making people happy, and the world is a dangerous place if you have a trait like that. I was lucky. My friends cared about me and told me I was being too nice, not that I listened, but they never asked more of me than I could afford to give. Other givers are not so lucky. Givers, especially, have to be careful in romantic relationships. We forgive so easily it's easy to be caught up in a cycle of abuse. We tend not to stand up for ourselves.

And so we are on the path to find the balance, to be a little more selfish, to be happy on our own terms.