Life Lessons from Your Soul - Asking For Help

Yesterday while walking on the beach, I called a friend of mine to see if she could come out and walk with me. She had been sick with a nasty stomach flu and was staying inside. As we talked for a few moments, I thought to myself; "Offer to go to the store for her . . .". It is my nature to help people who need it. Sometimes I do this to a fault, neglecting my own needs for another. I chose to hold myself back from asking her if she needed me. I wished her well and we hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, she called me back and she asked for help. I immediately gave it to her saying I'd be happy to go to the store for her and help her in her time of need. We talked about how hard it was for her to ask for my help and I shared how hard it was for me to not automatically give it.

How is it that we have come to live in a world where asking for help is so difficult that we over analyze the situation to the point where giving and receicing have become arduous tasks? There are so many schools of thought that tell us not to be too much of something we naturally are because we might over give or ask for more than we 'deserve'. Isn't it our birthright to ask for what we need and just trust that someone in our lives will be available to provide it for us?

I was ashamed that I did not just step up to the plate and offer help. She was ashamed that she did not just step up to her plate and ask for help. We were in a lock down of helplessness in an incredibly obvious situation where providing help was so unbelievably simple in this amazingly complex city where help is rarely around the corner.

My friend and I learned a valuable life lesson yesterday. Just be yourself. If you feel compelled to offer help and you have the time to do it. Just do it. If you need help, simply ask for it and KNOW you 'deserve' it just by virtue of the fact that you are a human being in need.

Thank you my friend for showing me what I already knew. Help is always around the corner.