Asking For Help Takes Courage

It takes courage to ask for help.

If you know me, you know that I struggle to ask for help. I know the importance of not trying to do everything alone, but it is hard for me to put this into practice.

I remember years ago we were putting up drywall on our basement ceiling. My wife was helping me and suggested we should get someone to give us a hand. I refused. I am not really sure why. It makes sense to have a few more hands to do something like that. But at the time, I felt like asking for help would somehow be admitting I am not competent enough. Looking back, I cringe at how I reacted toward her.

It takes courage to admit we can’t do everything in our own, especially when we have always felt our value lies in our ability to help others and to be there to support those who need us. Weird, right? We are quick to help but resist asking for help. I am sure that is something I will need to unpack with my therapist at some point.

Today, my courage will take me to my doctor. I have been fighting through pain in my knee associated with a tumour in my fibula. I am also fighting pain in my shoulder. Yesterday I slipped on ice and though I didn’t fall, I did something to aggravate my knee to the point I could barely put weight on it. So today I will take the step to see my doctor for help with the pain. And this is hard to do for me, because everything within me says, “fight through it, go to work where they need you and deal with this yourself.”

It takes courage to ask for help. Whether it is asking someone to help hand drywall, asking for help from a doctor or simply asking to share the load when it gets too much to handle alone, just ask.