I always seem to feel so guilty if I haven't kept in touch with people, someone I should phone or write (usually a snail mail letter because these people are not into the techie age), or maybe someone I should have over for coffee, tea, wine, or some appropriate meal. I transfer names from list to list and it takes a while to get to them, sometimes quite a long while, but every once in that same while I wonder, why don't they think of me? Why don't they feel guilty about not calling me? Why am I always the one to reach out? If you are nodding your head, then you're one of the reachers and not one of the takers.
But I wonder, would I feel any better if someone reached out to me? Probably not. I'd probably feel more guilty. Is it possible to get through a week or even a day without feeling an obligation to do something for someone? I remember years ago when my older daughter was in high school, she paused before she left one morning and asked me what I was going to do that day. And I told her about someone who was ill and needed soup, so I'd take some, and someone else - I forget all - but I had a list.
"You mean you spend time thinking about what you can do for others?" She looked at me in horror. "I"m never going to do that."
She does, though. Did I lay it on her?