A little about my personality

My family will attest to the fact that I am a very active person.  Whether it's threatening to built a submarine at age 10 or building a motorcycle at age 19, I'm always doing something.  I think that this is how I deal with life, by just filling my time with projects and activities.  

This active personality has driven me to situations where I can have a serious impact on people.  It started when I was 9 and saved a cousin from drowning, and from there I became a lifeguard, ski patroller, and EMT.  I've always been able to save people.  

But I am learning that I cannot always save people.  This week I have been faced with this ugly truth.  When someone is drowning and I swim to them with a rescue tube, they do not push me away and say "I'm fine, I don't need your help."  But real life is not so easy or clear as the lifeguard analogy.  

  

I have painfully been learning this lesson this week.  I have been faced with a friend who needs love and support, but who does not have the humility to admit that she is struggling.  I go to her with open arms, offering her my help, only to have her blatantly deny that she needs encouragement.

  

When I see pain, I want to fix it.  This is not some great virtue or blessing, it is simply a part of my personality.  What I have not learned is that I cannot fix most things; I can only offer support and love.  The virtues that I must learn are to have the humility and faith to know that I cannot fix the pain in the world but God can.