Remember when you were a kid in gym class, and they let you jump on a trampoline? You always had “spotters”, people who held their hands up and were there at the ready to catch you if you started to fall. Weight lifters have spotters too. If the load gets too heavy, the spotter is there to lift it off of you and place it back in it’s proper place. Funny how these roles carry over into real life. I’m a spotter. I’m always the one who’s there behind you, with my hand upon the small of your back, waiting to help you steady yourself if you start to fall. Lately, I can’t help but wonder how come the folks who are always in the front aren’t very willing to switch positions and be the spotter for a while. We all need a spotter now and then, don’t we? What happens to us spotters when there’s no one willing to stand behind us and become the support? The answer…we fall. And most times we fall alone. Not only do we fall alone, but we hide the fact that we’ve fallen. We are the perennial “I’m fine” people.
Spotters put on their happy face and never let on that they’re slipping. Life gets heavy sometimes…for all of us. Spotters are pleasers. They don’t want to let anyone down. They take their support role very seriously, at the expense of their own strength. We crumble in private. The weight of holding everybody else up gets heavy, but we don’t give up. We’ll stand behind you, come hell or high water. We’ll take every “no”, every “I can’t make the time for you”, every disappointment, and we’ll place it on our own backs and carry it ourselves. It’s in our nature, and something we realize, but can’t help. I always think to myself that I would still much rather be a spottER than a spottEE.
I guess my point is this. To all of the spottEES out there…take time once in a while to look behind you. More times than not, there is someone there who always holds you up, always encourages you, always listens, always has time for you…always has their hand on the small of your back. Maybe once you realize they are there, you’d be willing to switch positions once in a while. Be grateful for your spotters.
SuziCate Said:
on August 10, 2011 at 3:28 pm
It is better to be a spotter than a spottee, but still spotters need a rest now and then. This is a most profound post, love the analogy here. This is a fabulous write, Iris.