Sometimes we find it hard to accept help from others – even though we might badly need it. Belgian psychologist Nathalie Cardinaels offers the following ‘helping thoughts’ to enable us to ask for or accept help.
- Even the strongest person in the group, the most stable rock, needs help now and then. This has nothing to do with weakness but with being human.
- You might be afraid to ask for help because you don’t want to be a burden to others. However, the other person really will say so if it’s not convenient for them (at that time).
- The other person might actually see it as a compliment that you’re asking them for help. This means that you see and value their insight and capabilities.
- If someone offers to help, you just say yes even if you’re thinking ‘I can do it myself”. Why not just wait and see what the benefits are?
- In Issue 27, journalist Catelijne Elzes discovers how asking for help every now and then can have many benefits.
Text Catelijne Elzes Photography Unsplash.com/Toa Heftiba
