Asking for Help

I think one of the most difficult things a lot of people have trouble doing in the midst of crises and challenges is asking for help.

Whether out of pride or out of fear, asking for help can be an obstacle in itself aside from the challenges we are faced with.

Many of us just get into situations where we don't know a way out of or we don't understand what we are in the midst of or what is happening to us. We don't know how we can be helped or what can actually help us.

As a result, many of us continue in lives and circumstances that become unnecessarily restrictive, sometimes even oppressive, when all it takes to escape from these circumstances is an extension of a hand and the extension of another hand to help it.

Unfortunately the helpers often don't know how to help, which is a situation that happens frequently in our world and in our society. 

In a world as broken, lost, and, more often than not, quite wicked, many people just feel trapped by the oppressive and restrictive aspects of their life, not knowing how to help themselves and who to ask for help from. We often don't know who to trust, and sometimes we trust people or systems who end up exploiting us for profit or for power.

That's just a sad and troublesome reality of our world. We don't know where our help comes from, nor do the helpers always know how to help. Factor in the evil and corruption of this world, many of us get into a position where we feel trapped, isolated, and constricted, and in our fear and anger we lash out in ways that make our situations even worse, alienate our friends and family, and often derail our lives

I've been there.

Many times.

Now, in the midst of facing my own reckoning with my mistakes over the years, and acknowledging my sins and flaws and my own role in my failures, I now wholly know where my help comes from. 

God.

That Infinite Mind.

The Creator of all things.

If something that powerful cares about me and values me as something precious and priceless, I know that help will always come from my Heavenly father in due time.

I know that He will let me make mistakes. He will let me make my own choices, but when the time comes I will always try to ask Him for help.

I know in my heart He will help me, even if I am to suffer and lose for a time.

I know not everyone shares my faith or my views, but I want to say there is no shame in asking for help. It's the only way to get it, to be honest, and the only way people learn how to help you is if you give them the chance to.

There are three primary steps to solving a problem.

The first step is acknowledging there is a problem to begin with.

The second step is asking a simple question with often profound consequences: "How do we solve the problem?"

The third step is realizing that most of the big problems of your life and the world can't be solved by yourself. Ask for help.