Learning to Ask for Help

Learning to Ask for Help

You can say that I’m “type A.”

My mom likes to show me the note my 2nd grade teacher (to be later repeated by my 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers) sent home to her gently asking her to remind me that the teacher was the authority in the class, not me.

I have always been assertive. I tend to make quick decisions and I lean forward into life pretty naturally as a leader.

As a result, I’ve found that my answer to most difficulties in life that deal with time or too many challenging circumstances usually takes the form of thinking through time-management.

How can I make myself more efficient?

How can I reorganize my schedule?

What systems or structures could I change to increase output or decrease redundancy?

How can I better optimize things to stay ahead or stay afloat?

Because of the way I’m wired, this last stretch of life has been hard for me.

I’ve found that, even with my best effort at time-management, I haven’t been able to go it alone.

I’ve been starting to ask for help lately.

Asking for help, however, seems like admitting failure. It makes me feel like I’m making a public declaration that I’m not smart enough or competent enough to figure out or handle my own stuff.

At least that’s how it makes me feel.

But is asking for help really failure? Despite my natural inclination to feel that way, I obviously don’t think it is.

There are times when grace is best shown, not always in giving, but sometimes in receiving.

There are times when grace is more fully manifest, not in our strength, but in our weakness.

There are times when people feel most connected to us, not in our independence, but in our dependence on them.

There are times when we learn best, not because we’re out in front of life, but because we’re behind in life.

There are times when things need to be cut from schedules, not because it’s easy or logical, but necessary. (Pruning is something I’m learning God sometimes forces on us.)

I’ve always known that strong personalities help get things done, but I’m now learning (as Michael Jordan once learned) that strong teams are what’s needed for true success.

Because of life demands, ministry demands, health issues, energy and time constraints, I’m learning to have to ask for help.

I don’t like it, but maybe we’re better when we ask for help?

Photo Credit: Keoki Seu, Creative Commons

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