Have you ever had to overcome a muscle injury? It’s quite painful and depending on which muscle you injure determines how much you need to ask for help to do day-to-day functions in your life. I recently had this challenging experience. My injury was my right upper arm muscle, not my actual bicep but the muscles to the left and right of it. I thought I was going to cry just doing the basics of what I do each day like wash my hair, or put on my clothes. That didn’t account for the other vast array of things I do each day.
My right arm is my dominant arm because I’m right handed. It was really difficult to do basics like brush my hair or teeth, put my arm in a sleeve of a shirt, even eating. I could no longer ignore my injury or the help I really needed. My poor husband had to assist me and I did not like asking for his help. He had no problem helping me but with his back issues I try to provide the help instead of needing to ask for it. The role reversal in this case was quite painful for me and not just with my arm. My own pride got in the way until I had no choice but to ask.
It is a challenge to ask for help when you really need it, but what about those times you could use some advice or minor assistance to help you but you won’t ask in those times either? There is no shame in asking for help. In fact, many of your closer friends and family would be by your side in an instant if they thought they could help you with something. The trick is you have to ask. How many of us ask? I know for me in many cases I didn’t ask until I had no other options but to. I missed out on many blessings due to my own pride and ego.
I have asked and in doing so I have been blessed greatly by what my friends or family members have done to help me through a situation. What is the worse someone can say to you, no I can’t help you today? No, I don’t want to help you at all. Are you any worse off? Isn’t this how you find out who your true friends are and who is just around for what they can get from you?
The blessings I received by letting my husband help me in my time of need, were simple things that made me laugh, with some private jokes when getting dressed. He thanked me and was glad he could help me for a change instead of it always being the other way around due to his health issues. Other friends commented that if I need help with anything to just call until my arm was healed. It turned out that I received several blessings over the course of those few days while my arm healed.
What makes us so afraid to ask for help? How can we overcome those issues and benefit from asking? It comes down to choices and honestly you can overcome anything if you just ask.
Try these five things and see if it helps you.
1. Acknowledge that you have a problem asking for help. Make a list of things you could utilize with someone else’s knowledge or assistance. Admitting it helps you overcome it.
2. Ask yourself is it my pride getting in the way of asking? Was this something you saw in your parents or taught to you by friends or family? Analyze out why you let your pride get in the way of asking. Make a list of reasons, is it fear and if so what type of fear specifically. (Fear of the unknown, fear of losing your idea to someone else and etc.)
3. Would asking make your life or situation better or even to go away? Would it make the current challenges something you could learn from so that you were a better creative, business owner, spouse, friend or family member?
4. Is there a risk of getting hurt if you ask? That’s possible no matter who you are, don’t let that hold you back and make a list of what could happen and prepare your mind for the worse case scenario so you aren’t surprised or hurt.
5. What kind of blessings could I receive if I just asked? Would a challenge in business go away and make things more profitable for you? Maybe a friendship would grow stronger? Could you get an answer you needed to keep you from wasting time going the wrong direction? A blessing no matter how small or large can uplift your mood, change a situation for the better, increase your knowledge, make you grow and enhance your life.
Take a moment and think about your family needs, business needs, physical needs, or spiritual needs and be honest with yourself, do you need to ask for help in some way? Take the time to figure out why you haven’t and overcome those reasons why. Your life will be so much better when you ask. Leave me a comment on how you have asked for help and how it has blessed your life.
Have a blessed week!
