Asking for Help

Asking for Help

Taking a Hand

A friend asks if you can watch her kids for an hour while she attends an appointment.  Another asks if you can spare a few minutes to listen to his latest dilemma.  And when family calls, you immediately drop everything to assist.  We love to help.  We feel great when we become someone’s hero.  So, why do we resist letting them help us?

Perhaps it’s my Southern upbringing, but I have a hard time asking for help.  I would gladly give the shirt off my back to help someone else, but asking her to pick up dinner because I’m sick is out of the question.  I brought this topic up to another Southern friend of mine (who’s sweet as pie and guilty of not asking for help too.)  Ultimately, our hesitation to ask for help boiled down to thinking it’s an inconvenience to bother anyone else with our needs. 

Now that I have two young children, I’ve had to relearn how to ask for help.  Asking for assistance isn’t a burden to someone else.  She likely loves the fact that you even thought of her to help.  This is a new way of thinking for me, and I have to remember how happy I feel to help and now someone can do that for me.

This month I’ve asked Laura Martin to substitute my classes while I spend some time bonding with the newest llama.  She willingly jumped to the opportunity to lend a helping hand.  Along with Laura, I’ve armed myself with a team of friends and family that can assist me during this change in my life.

I urge you to do the same.  Pick up the phone.  Call and ask for help next time.