“I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.” ~ Shooter Teton Sioux
My father would cringe at today’s quote. He would not only cringe, he would also begin to holler. He would shout that the quote was wrong. He would claim that you not only can depend upon yourself, you must depend upon yourself. To do otherwise, he told us over and over again, was a sign of weakness. That was his opinion and for the longest time, it became the opinion of his four boys who had that pounded into our psyches. That is, until we became old enough to know that he wasn’t correct.
For me, that was a lesson a long time in coming. When I was younger, my father’s philosophy guided my life. It was hard to break out of it. Thinking that I was responsible for everything on my own led me to become a perfectionist and that is something I battle even to today. To ask for help was embarrassing and humiliating and something that I would only do as a last recourse.
We cannot depend solely upon ourselves. There are many times that we have to have the help of others. It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help. As a matter of fact, it is a sign of inner strength to know when we need help. Once we acknowledge the help we need, all it takes is humility to ask for help.
When we realize that asking for help is not a reflection of weakness or inadequacy within, it becomes easier not only to ask others for help but to ask God for help as well. There is no way that we can reach eternal life without the help of God. The sooner we learn that very valuable lesson, the better positioned we will be to ask God for help throughout our lives.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God for the humility to accept the help that comes from others as well as from God.