#72  You Are Not a Burden!

Now I know some of you think I don’t need to read this blog. I’m not a burden. But I’m guessing more of you are reading this blog, thinking, yes that’s a problem for me.

When vision is low or gone completely and you need help, it can be easy to feel like you are a burden. Do you find yourself apologizing when you feel like you are an inconvenience?

Get over it! Sometimes you have to ask for help. With or without vision everybody asks for help from time to time.

With low vision, people can mistreat you. How? By talking with someone standing beside you instead of talking directly to you. They sometimes figure if you can’t see, you can’t hear, or can’t answer for yourself.   

Some suggestions to overcome this feeling of being a burden.

• Spend more time with people who make you feel loved and appreciated. And the opposite, spend less time with people who make you feel uncomfortable.
• Set goals and feel good about completing them.
• Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
• When you hear positive affirmations, repeat them to yourself – daily.
• Join a support group where you can talk with others who have many of the same feelings.
• When feeling like a burden, imagine the situation in reverse. If they were the ones asking for help, how would you feel? Happy to help? So why wouldn’t they be happy to help you? Most people feel good about being able to help someone else.
• Instead of saying, “I’m sorry I need so much help . . .” try saying thank you more often. “Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.”

When feeling like a burden, social isolation might develop to avoid the problem. Then too much isolation can result in loneliness. Depression can then get out of hand.

The bottom line – stop feeling like a burden. Nip that thought before it grows. Yes I Can is a good replacement thought to repeat again and again – whether it’s opening a can of soup or asking for help. You are worth it.

THINK POSITIVE!