Helpful Is Not the Same as Contributing

I like being helpful.
It feels useful.
Needed.
Appreciated.
It also gives me something to do
before I have figured out what is required.
I answer.
Fix.
Carry.
Step in.
Sometimes that helps.
Sometimes I am performing usefulness.
That is harder for me to admit.
Helping can still create movement
while pulling me outside my contribution.
I can solve the immediate problem
and still dilute the work.
I can make things easier
and still make the system more dependent on me.
A better question:
What is mine to contribute?
That question changes the order.
It asks me to notice before I insert myself.
To offer my part without taking over the whole.
Helpful is about what I can do.
Contribution is about what is mine to give.
Helpful gets me involved.
Contribution makes my involvement matter.