A friend called me today, in tears and needing help. On hearing how upset she was, I felt grateful that I had seen her in-coming call and put my busy day aside to answer the phone. I am not sure how useful I was to her; but what I hope she gained from our call was a validation that asking for help is never wrong.
Few of us are practiced in asking for help. Most of us have learned to muscle through, work it out and do it all alone. Perhaps we were taught that asking for help is a weakness, or a sign of failure. Or perhaps we feared all too young that if we asked for help no-one would be there to answer.