Allowing Yourself to Lean on Others

“I can carry my suitcase on my own thank you very much!” I screamed at him. Who does he think he is trying to help me? I am a strong independent woman who can carry her own bag!

Yeah, that was me. My poor husband. He was just trying to be a gentleman and help me.

At some point along the way, I thought I needed to be superwoman and be entirely self-sufficient. I didn’t want to ask anyone for help. I am not sure how this happened but it did. What this meant was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders – all by myself without asking anyone for any kind of help or support. There is nothing worse than thinking you must navigate challenges and struggle all alone by yourself. How isolating.

Thankfully I did not implode before I realized that this was simply unrealistic. Let’s face it, we are all not so different than we think we are as human beings. We may have different back stories or current challenges to overcome, but we are all just trying to do this thing called life to the best of our ability.

When we stop for a moment and consider others could be facing similar challenges perhaps there is real value in coming together and sharing with each other. Perhaps we could even help each other? By merely talking about experiences with others, we can help ourselves and each other.

Thinking that we need to single handily solve things all on our own is foolish. Being able to accept help from others is really a great life skill. Even better is realizing that someone may be wanting to be that contribution to your life. Consider that by not allowing them to do so, you are withholding them that opportunity to provide support.

In some cases, you may feel that you just don’t have time to stay in touch with people. But I assure you that if you make the time to stay connected with new friends or old friends it could help you and them alike. Struggling with a mental illness or being a caregiver to someone is a lot to deal with but it should not define who we are. Just consider the opportunity you may be missing by not allowing yourself to lean on others. Together we are stronger.