stole

this from my friend Shivam's blog on his latest post about perspective transformation, have been meaning to post it in a long time. There was just one part that really hit home and I think helps me put into perspective why I am in Vietnam and exactly what I am doing, I am not "helping" poor Vietnamese people. Will put more thoughts about it later for now as my brain is fried from my 8 hour nap just read below.


Vikram (the chairman) asked me why I was there, and what I hoped to gain out of my experience. At the time it seemed like such a reasonable question with such a simple answer: I was there to “help others”, and realize how grateful I needed to be and to not take things for granted. I gloated at my missionary-complex while Vikram found some humor in my adolescence. He told me: “Do not anything in life because you feel obliged to do something. Definitely do not do anything to ‘help anyone’. No one needs your ‘help’. I am here today because I don’t like helping people—I am here today because I love what I do. When you say that you’re here to help, you’re also directly saying that you’re here to victimize and defeat the purpose of your coming in the first place. Humans do not need help; they need an ear for their stories, love for their souls, shoulders for their tears, and care for their kind. Not help.”