The Poppins-McVee Syndrome
I don’t know if it was The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins that made me love Julie Andrews.
I think I saw both films long after they were first aired, but they were so popular, that they were repeatedly aired.
In both films, Julie Andrews was like this joy-filled, magical, musical angel; that came to help a family in need; a family in pain, who had been suffering from loss.
Likewise, Nanny McVee was a revision and retelling of that same type of story.
One of the things I really loved about this story, is how Nanny McVee’s appearance would reflect the ugliness and pain of the household.
It was literally painful for the family to look at her in the beginning.
Both nannies utilized magic, but Poppins also used music and dance; while McVee used spoken word and play to influence her wards.
But, the most important similarity with both characters was their motto.
“When you need me but don’t want me, I’ll stay. When you want me, but don’t need me, I’ll have to go away.”
In both cases, they were talking about restoration.
Years ago, I knew a chiropractor who lost his license, and then became a massage therapist.
When I told him that I wanted to fix my client’s pain problems as quickly as possible; he told me that I had it all wrong.
“You gotta milk them along,” he said, making that finger rubbing sign with his hands which meant a lot of moola.
The point is, his concern for his clients was a pretense.
He was self-centered and only in it for himself.
If you truly want to help people, you provide education to help change their mindset, so that they can help themselves; and your job is done.
You don’t need to stick around, or continue to solicit them with the exact same service.
To continue to hang around after providing a solution would be to become a crutch, which is not helpful at all; unless, of course, you can help them with another problem.
“Feed a man a fish, and he can eat for a day, but teach a man to fish, and he’s fed for a lifetime.”
I believe in giving when and where needed; but I also believe in helping people stand on their own two feet in self-sufficiency.
Have you ever conceived that your pain could be a Poppins or McVee in your life? Think about it.
“When you need me but don’t want me, I’ll stay. When you want me, but don’t need me, I’ll have to go away.”
Some of us are quicker learners than others; and some of us never learned or appreciated our lessons.
Is your pain a teacher that you’ve been ignoring?
