He came by to see me. I don’t see him very often. This time he came by and we had something to eat and something to drink.

We caught up. I don’t see him so often anymore. We caught up on what is happening in each other’s lives.

A little bit.

And there came that point.

We always come to that point.

I was actually trying to avoid it.

But there came that point when I brought up the same thing I bring up every time. For this person, it was to talk about how he could stress less and take care of himself. How he could give himself a break and not give in to everyone else’s expectations.

This time I said “What are you hearing when I tell you this? Because we have the same conversation every time we talk.”

We do. I think maybe he heard me. But I always think that.

Here’s something I’ve learned about giving people advice:

Every time I am telling someone else what they need to do

No matter how much they need to do it

No matter how much they don’t need to do it

I am telling myself what I should do.

That’s a saying, Every time you point your finger at someone, you’ve got three fingers pointing back at yourself.

So.

Right about now,

How would my life be better if I gave myself a break, and didn’t let other people’s expectations crush me?

What if I let there be some room for other people to help me, and let there be room for good things to happen?
What if I made time for the stuff I *like*, not just the stuff I am obligated to do?

Because I have this conversation every time.

I guess I still need to hear it.