Overflow

​Overflow
Rain!  At Last!  Not just a storm front that comes and goes quickly but a system sitting over us.  Light rain so far but we live in hope.  And cold!  Ok it is relative.  An Eskimo would think this was warm.  But this is Brisbane and I feel cold.
I have always felt it is weird having a tank for the water.  We have a 5,000 litre tank and a large catchment area on our shed.  Still, it seems when we need water we do not have it, and when there is an abundance, we don’t need it and the tank overflows.
It is probably too late for some of our plants, and we have been tardy in using it, but lately we have used some of last summer’s rainwater from our tank.  For some reason the plants seem to appreciate the water.  After this weekend we are likely to have an abundance of the stuff and the tank will overflow again.
I do like that we have too much rather than not enough.  Too much can be put to use, and others can benefit from it.  Not enough and I am always skimping.  Trying to make ends meet.  Looking for the next dollar or whatever it is I am short of.
Even when I have something to give, people’s pride can find it hard to receive.  Many will resist an offer of assistance, yet when it happens they love it.  It is a fine line.  No one should be put out.  It is not about what I want, but what they want.  Yet sometimes something can be done a different way.  Often a person does not see the benefit of something until they do it.
It may be a bit like the invention of Sticky Notes.  The inventor at 3M thought it was a good idea.  But it was rejected.  Undeterred, the inventor produced some himself and started using them around the office.  Suddenly it seemed like a good idea and was produced.  Now the whole world thinks it is a good idea.
Even if I overflow in something and feel I have earned it, I do not think that gives me the right to insist I deserve something.  It is a balancing act though.  Sometimes a fight is needed, but it seems to me the fight is always about the principle and not the person.  I may be a beneficiary, but that is a by-product.
I was reading this morning how we get our backs up over irritations.  Sometimes they overflow.  Yet it is those very things that build character.  If I did not experience them, I would not grow.  I do not find them pleasant and would reject them, but if I did that I would be rejecting the very thing that benefits me most.  For sure I attempt to smooth the path I walk, but the unexpected can do me as much good as the anticipated.
For me it is a constant learning curve.  I am a firm believer in if I overflow in things they are for the benefit of others.  It is not up to me if what I offer someone is accepted or rejected, but it is up to me to offer.