I know a lot of paranoid people and it is exhausting trying to calm them. Those who seek frequent reassurance wear me down and I distance myself.
I realize there is nothing I say or do that can’t be misinterpreted and misused. When I work with sponsees, I am usually exercising at the time. Because I got out of breath one time (I was either sharing something painful or doing something requiring exertion), he essentially asked me if I was masturbating. I was horrified.
I could recommend to someone that they go for a walk, and they might go for a walk and get mugged or break a leg. I might say you should drink a glass of water and you might drink 20 glasses of water and hurt yourself. I take no responsibility for that. I could recommend to someone that they read a book and it might trigger them into creating a disaster online. I might suggest an assignment and it might lead them to a nervous breakdown. I might say that they should become more visible and they might go out and become more visible in a disastrous way. I take no responsibility for the lives of others because I have no control over them. I do the best I can and then I turn over the results to God. Please use whatever I say in ways that benefit you and others.
With every potential sponsee, I give them a template for our work. This template lists two books that I require sponsees to have available every time we meet so they should get them as e-books available on their phone. And yet 95% of potential sponsees don’t have these books when we start working together.
