On Holes.

I bought this sweater a couple months back. It’s one of those see through ones where you have to wear a cami underneath because the material isn’t tightly sewn together. Needless to say it has special wash instructions but even more needless to say I got lazy, threw it in with the rest of the laundry, and didn’t realize until I got to work the next day that two decently sized holes had resulted from my carelessness. I get hung up on weird things like unwanted holes in sweaters and didn’t want to wait until I was home to stitch them back together. And, if I’m being honest, I don’t own a sewing kit. I figured my manager would have a needle and thread since she’s a knick-knack collector; sure enough she did. I googled ‘How to Sew’ and stumbled across a wikiHow article that lists 7 steps with pictures. “Easy enough,” I thought. Needle, thread, and gumption in tow, I headed to the bathroom to stitch those bad boys up. I failed… miserably.

The truth is I don’t know how to stitch holes together and no amount of wikiHow articles is going to teach me- even if they do include pictures. I needed the kind of hands-on help that you can’t get from a computer screen. I marched back into my manager’s office, swallowed my embarrassment, and bashfully asked her if she would come to the bathroom to help me with my situation.  Of course she obliged; she’s a maternal wonder woman. She had the holes and my pride stitched back together in less than fifteen minutes.

Here’s the thing, I’m independent and I like it that way. I take my fair share of buzzfeed quizzes and always get results like, ‘You’re never going to get married- you’re strong and independent.’ Or, ‘You’re semi-approachable- you tend to do your own thing.’ Etc. And while I’m halfway kidding about the buzzfeed thing and have enough wits about me to know they aren’t the coup de grace of any future matrimony and social happenstances, the results I get leave me wondering, do I go about life striving to be a little too independent?

When did I stop thinking it was okay to ask for a person’s help in stitching the holes of my life back together? Life gets tough and sometimes I can’t do it on my own; no one can. I heard a great sermon a couple weeks ago with the main point being that it’s only a fool who isolates his or her self and never solicits the help of others.  To ask for a lending hand when you actually need it isn’t a sign of weakness or incompetency; it means you have humility and enough self-awareness to know when you can’t go it alone. I used to think strength was only defined by words like success, accomplishment, and perseverance. I now know that an equally important aspect of it is the ability to let go, fall to your knees, and humbly ask for the advice, assistance, and love of others when you need it most. Don't be afraid to let others help you stitch some holes back together every now and then.

Main Takeaways:

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed"
-Napoleon Hill

It's okay to ask for help sometimes.

Learn how to humble yourself.

Don't be a fool by isolating yourself.