With my husband changing his work schedule to night shift (7pm-7am), it took away my little breathers that I had when he worked during the day. He would come home and I would get some time to finish work that I didn’t have a chance to get done. I also got those much deserved “mommy breaks” that we all need from time to time. With the new schedule I got up with Logan in the morning, he would be napping when my husband got up, and then he would go to work and I would be solely responsible for Logan for the rest of the night. No help with dinner or bath time, my “mommy sleep in days” were now down to once a week if I was lucky. And because I didn’t have the help that I was use to, I would end up staying up into the early morning hours finishing things that I just could not get done while Logan was up and about.
About 2 weeks in, I was sleep deprived and starting to see early signs of “burn out”. Finally, I told myself, “This is nuts, why don’t I just ask for some help?”
Asking for help is easy to recommend that to my clients, even easier for me to be the one that helps when a friend or family member needs it… Nevertheless, what stops us from asking for help for ourselves?
Personally, I feel very good about myself if I can balance everything successfully. I am a very self-sufficient person and asking for help to me means that I am unable to handle whatever situation, even though that is just reality sometimes. We are only human, and if it was intended for us to do everything, ourselves, then we would have been put on this earth alone.
We need others, we need love, validation, we even need to be needed, and sometimes we need help too. This is one of those life lessons that I have had to learn again and again. Maybe it’s our pride that stops us from asking for help, maybe it is our inability to admit that we are in over our head.
I have seen the results of letting my pride get in the way of asking for help. It is a life filled with anxiety, stress, and unhappiness.
What are you struggling with in your life? Where do you need help?
Whatever it is there is help out there. The first step is getting over the hang up about asking for it. Think about what stops you from asking for help. Then ask yourself: “Is it really worth running myself into the ground over?” If you just don’t know how to ask, then just be honest. It’s ok to admit that you need help. The travesty is not asking for what you need.
I finally decided that I was going to get real and admit that I need some help this time around before I found myself totally stressed out. I asked for and my ten-year-old nephew came over for the weekend. He kept my son occupied so I could get some things done, he helped out with the housework, and its been so wonderful having another pair of hands around the house. Therefore, the next time that I am offered help that is going to make my life more manageable, I am going to take them up on it.
