Ok fellow mommies (well, really all ladies!). How many of you LOVE helping others? How many of you LOVE giving encouragement and support to your fellow girlfriends? I love doing this. I love being there for my girlfriends! I want them to ask me for help if they need it and I want them to know I am always there for them. If you are like me, I bet you enjoy this as well. But, ladies, let’s turn the tables. How many of us really LOVE asking FOR help. How many of us are willing to be the ones to accept help and ADMIT when we need it? I am guessing a lot less of us are willing to admit we NEED help than GIVE help. HMM? Well, in the book I read, Rattled by Trish Berg (great book for you mom’s out there! I highly recommend it!), it reminded me that is is OK to ask for help. Remember the verse in Ecclesiastes? “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up.” As this book so cleary and truthfully puts it
“But most of us women like to be the one helping someone else up. We like to be the givers. It makes us feel needed, loved and accepted. Being the receiver – allowing a friend to help us out – can sometimes make us uncomfortable. It leaves us feeling inadequate and needy, like we now owe something in return.”
WOW. This hit me SQUARE in the face. I sometimes, ok, alot of the time, have a hard time ASKING for help. If someone offers, I can manage that a LITTLE better, but having to ASK for it? Yikes, watch out, that is WAY hard to do. Seriously, ask my husband. . .I have a hard time communicating that with him. Then, by the time I realize I DID need help I am moody and cranky. If I had just gotten over my pride and asked for help in the first place, I would probably have been in, and stayed in, a better mood. It would have made my day less stressful and allowed me to handle the stresses and frustrations better. I love what Trish Berg says next:
“But if no one is willing to be the receiver, then there is no one to give to. So in receiving, you are actually giving: You are giving your girlfriends the chance to help you. And as you join in giving and receiving, you both become stronger – better than one.”
I think this can apply to ALL relationships. . .God Bless!
I just caught this post via Google alert and am so thrilled that my book, Rattled, had an impact on you. Reading your blog made my day. As a writer, it is difficult at times, and we are isolated form our readers. SO your kind words mean so much.
Thank you for reading Rattled, and for sharing your thoughts with other moms out there.
And know that I, too, struggle every day to allow myself to be a receiver. So we are all in the same boat. But we can all work towards that goal.
Wish you all the best- Blessings to you- Trish
Trish Berg
Author, Rattled-Surviving Your Baby’s First Year without Losing Your Cool!