Asking for help can be the bravest move you make.

As independent and capable women we can find it hard to ask for help, and we find it way more comfortable to lend a hand to others than to receive it.

I thought about the times of adversity in my own life when I have “asked for help”;

Married with a young family, working full time, a full and bustling lifestyle, finding the going hard, family commitments, feeling stressed through work, and the added challenge of my mum being diagnosed with a debilitating illness;

I asked for help…

Moving into a new chapter, starting my own business, required new skills and knowledge, there were areas I found new and challenging, I needed to learn more; I needed to show up:

I asked for help…

Struggling with understanding the actions of a loved one, reading books, researching, making contact with support groups and professionals, seeking help and understanding;

I asked for help…

What I have learned, is how important it is to reach out and ask for help when life’s pressures and problems weigh heavy on us. Keeping our problems to ourselves isn’t brave. Brave is having the courage to share, to be vulnerable and expose our struggles, and to ask for help when we need it.

Rather than suffer alone, think about what sort of help you need and how you can get access to it. It takes courage to ask for help from someone else, but we all need help at sometime.

I asked for help and ironically this enabled me in turn to be able to help others. By asking for help, we help ourselves, we help those whom we ask to assist us, and we are then able to use our experiences to help others.

People who are resilient, ask for help. They reach out for support as needed. By asking for help we provide the opportunity for others to “give”. Research has shown that “giving” to others – our time, our words, our presence, will also promote our own sense of well being. People love to be helpful. By denying them the opportunity to serve us, we disappoint them, and they miss out on this chance to promote their own well being.

Asking for help provides people a chance to give their gifts and to feel valued and to learn that it’s okay to ask for help.

We need to open our hearts to receive kindness, support, and guidance even though we may never be able to to give anything back in return.

What we can do is to be open to opportunities to extend help to others, in whatever way they need, and to let go, the need for it to be returned or acknowledged.

Ask for help,

not because you’re weak,

but because you want to stay strong.

Keeping your problems to yourself isn’t brave.

Brave is having the courage to share, to be vulnerable, to expose your struggle, and to ask for help when you need it.

Jo Robertson

“Reaching out for help and accepting it when offered is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength”

Margie Warrell.