“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Fred Rogers
Years ago I was the kind of person who’s pride and insecurities prevented me from asking for help from others – emotionally, physically or environmentally.
Maintaining this kind of unhealthy behavior allowed me to continually and regularly throw “pity parties” for myself, saying things like, “nobody has any idea what I’m going through.”
What I’ve come to realize over the last few years, and through this blog, is that our problems are not isolated – that people all over the world are plagued with many of the same issues we are, and are probably saying the same thing I mentioned above.
Through counseling, and a very patient wife, I learned that our reluctance to ask for help only winds up hurting ourselves. Denying a problems existence by pretending it simply doesn’t exist, and then playing the victim whenever a helping hand enters the picture does little to bring about a resolution and only prolongs the heartache.
Sadly too many people in the world today look at those who ask for help as a sign of weakness, rather than strength. But as I’ve personally experienced over the last few years, it takes far greater courage to admit that you need help and support when the complications of life become too much, than it does to go it alone.
As Roger’s mother said, “You will always find people who are helping.” But you have to be willing and courageous enough to accept what they have to offer.
