1% Thursday: How can I help?

Has anyone ever asked ýou¨that?  Oh, what a friend.  What a rare and glorious treat.  Finally – someone who cares.

And you said – what?!  You just said,"oh, I don’t know"?

Well, let’s make sure that never happens again.  When there’s someone willing to help, happy to help – you need to be able to give them a suggestion.

So this week, just take 10 or 15 minutes to write a list of ideas.

No, not things like "Clean my house 3 times a week until I die".  Let’s try to keep it a little simpler.  Inexpensive, simple, preferably one-time ways people can help.  This isn’t a family strategy list, this is the friend list.

Ready?  Here are a few ideas:

• You could bring over a meal sometime…
• Could you pick up my mail today?
• Would you be willing to watch my kids for an afternoon?
• Could you recommend a massage therapist?
• I have this project that’s been driving me crazy – if you came over on a Saturday, we could finish it!
• If I gave you a list, would you be willing to do a shopping trip for me?
• I really hate [doing this little task].  Would you be able to do it for me once in a while?
• Will you marry me?  (ok, depends who you’re talking to…)
• Can I borrow some of your audio books, or your [famous musician/band] collection?

These things may not be directly related to helping you while you’re having an attack (ie migraine, headache, etc).  You could suggest things like that too, but even just something that lightens the load in general may make a big difference.

Also – why not ask what you can do in return?  If they can do something to help you, you may find there’s something you can do for them – something you like to do, or find easy.

It’s probably best to have these on hand, and then be able to answer the question if someone asks.  Then again, if people ask you all the time, and you know it’s safe – you could even hand them a list of suggestions.  Just remember, they’re not obligated. 🙂

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!