This week I share with you Tip #4 from Ten Self-Care Tips: Looking for Sane Practices in Times of Insane Demands – Ask for help. Have you ever seen the red HELP button? Right away you think, Yes, I need one of those!  But now tell me, if you had one, would you use it?  Probably not.

For some reason, many of us think being strong is doing everything on our own. We’re conditioned to not ask for help. Maybe we’re embarrassed to accept help. Or too proud. Sometimes, even in a life/death situation, we turn help away. Well, maybe you don’t. But I did.

A teenage experience is forever etched in my memory. My friend Sue and I were inner tubing down the Verde River in Arizona. We stopped on the dirt bank to take a break and have a bite to eat. It was hot – you know Arizona in the summertime hot. So I jumped at the edge of the river to splash around a bit and cool off. The undercurrent caught me and swept me into a tree half submerged in the water. I grabbed hold of the limbs tightly with both hands, while the current at my feet tried to pull me under. This is how people drown in the river, I thought to myself. I was afraid. Then a group with four inner tubes tied together passed by and saw me.

“Are you okay? Do you need help?” they called out.

Me? I lifted one hand off the branch, waved, and said, “No, I’m okay.” And they passed on by.

To this day, I’m still shocked to think of how I turned away their offer. I could have drowned! Fortunately, Sue threw me the Styrofoam lid of a cooler. I grabbed hold and it held me up as the waters drew me around the edge of the tree. I escaped with only scratches and a bruised ego.

I’ve worked a lot on learning to ask for help, and to accept it. I’m still not as comfortable with it as I want to be. It’s still a bit of challenge, but it’s on my list for self-care and I’m more conscious of the need.

So I share with you what I say to myself: When you need help, ask for it. If people offer help, take it. Don’t hesitate. It will ease your load, and it will really bless the person who offers.