Conversation with a friend

Keep on asking and it will be given to you;keep on seeking and you will find....--Matthew 7:7

this came up late last night in an im conversation with a new friend
we talked about balance
how, sometimes giving without reciprocation is damaging to the self
we are not all meant to be selfless givers (this is reserved for martyrs and saints and self-proclaimed "angels")
irony
some of us wish to be
irony
sometimes we wish to "help" without vested interest
without hope of return on our investment
irony
when we fail to reap a reward, or at the least an acknowledgement of our effort to "befriend" we feel somehow let down, taken for granted, begotten, foresaken...
Know this: the reward we seek is not mortal, not material, not from the "other" but from the Self
keep on keeping-on folks!
as i quote in one of my more "famous" and long-lasting profiles
"be good, be kind, be truthful and be free" - Hothouse Flowers
if only all of us remembered the golden rule
to do unto others as we would truly hope they might do unto us...yet
what if you are wounded? if your hope is not for fair treatment, but the repetition of a familiar pattern that is not beneficial to you (or the other)
then one might recognize the pattern, this is not too hard we agree, to change it is something else entirely
we do not choose who we are attracted to ...this is a matter of some mystery of some biological - astrological, godly determination ...some blend of nature-nuture, some hard-wiring that codes us for the ideal "other" that completion, that wholeness
be too good and the other you seek may be too "bad"
don't judge, don't assume, don't take it personally
just be you and value and honour yourself
let them value you too
"Imagine" - as John Lennon sang