Worksheet · 15 minutes
The Halfway Chair
A printable page for mapping what you carry in a week, and finding the one place you could let someone set down a chair for you.
Goes with the story Stairwell Nine.
The Estate · theestate.world/reflect/the-halfway-chair
Before you start
Read Stairwell Nine first if you haven’t. Then find a pen. This works best on paper, so print the page if you can. Nobody will see it but you.
Steps
- Draw a staircase down the side of the page — seven steps, one for each day of the coming week.
- On each step, write the things you are carrying for other people that day. Lifts, favours, messages, meals, worries. Keep it honest and keep it short.
- Look at the whole staircase. Put a small mark on the step where you usually run out of breath. That’s your ninth floor.
- Next to that step, write one name — someone who could carry one trip. Not all of it. One trip.
Write
Where in my week do I always stop to catch my breath?
What do I say (“I’m good”, “It’s fine”, “No bother”) when someone offers to help?
If I let one person carry one trip, what would it be, and who?
Sit with this
Mr Okafor didn’t ask Mara what she needed. He just noticed where she stopped. Sit for two minutes with this thought: somebody may already have noticed where you stop. What would happen if you let them?
The Ripple
Ask for one trip this week. One. Write down who you asked and what happened, even if it felt awkward.
No printer?
Write here instead.
This stays on this page. Nothing is sent or saved.
Questions I Ask Myself
One story. One thought. One different direction.
Welcome, Neighbour.