I’ve been “helpful” to a lot of people over the years. I like to be helpful. But I’ve also learned what often comes after I’m helpful, when the way I’m simply trying to be useful seemingly becomes too much—when I’m too much. Unaware that I’m doing it, I push and shove my way around, take it too far. Say more than I’ve been asked to. Suggest more than I should. That’s when people pull away. They like me for my helpfulness, until how I’m helpful bothers them, then they don’t. Then they’re done.
