I have tried helping others online by offering them encouragement, support, and help. I make a special effort each week to reach out to my friends who are in need of help.   This week, there was a death in my family, which was especially painful to my sister. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to console her. I also tried helping her overcome some problems she was having.   I had a small exchange of e-mails with my brother, which is very unusual since we hardly ever communicate with one another at all. He seems to want to continue doing this, but he has hurt me a lot in the past and I am not sure that I want to leave myself open to the possibility of this happening again.