Asking for Help -- The Gift of Humility

Asking for help requires some humility. You cannot act like you have all the answers and ask for them at the same time. Perhaps this is why we create situations that will require this call for humility within us. The dictionary definition of humility is: the state or quality of being humble; absence of pride or self-assertion. We tend to think that we can figure things out on our own - in fact, when we do, we are proud of ourselves. And there certainly is merit in accomplishments that we do alone. But there is both a synergy and a spirituality involved in co-creation. It may be why we are all here together - because we are "in it" together. We can not only get help from others but we are helped by aiding another. When you ask someone to help you, you are giving them the privilege of this very special blessing. rnNow, I have always known this. I have volunteered on all levels my entire adult life. I served bread to the homeless, taught photography to the mentally ill, mentored young women who had lost their way and even sat on Boards to change the world. Oh, I know how to give. But to receive....a whole other world that I am not nearly as comfortable in. rnBut oh the blessings! There is something so special about receiving exactly what you need when you didn't know how on earth you were going to get it. And there is a connection, a loving of each other that takes place when it's personal. Once my dad sent me a check out of the blue - because he got the inspiration to do so in church - and I was so in need, I cried when I opened it. It felt so good to be loved and supported... by the Universe as a whole and by him. Inevitably we feel the love toward the messenger himself, even when we know he is moved by Divine forces. So for reasons I cannot even explain, (pride, really) I still want to sit in my office, by myself, and think up the next big idea that will change the world (and make me a millionaire, of course) I am learning that real wealth comes when I am in the flow with others. It's not just in the giving and it's not just in the receiving - it's in the exchange. The magic is being in the flow...being open to let others give to you so that you can turn around and give to another. rnAnd as I stand here, humbly, I am receiving from so many beautiful messengers that it is overwhelming at times. And yet I know that even if I do not give back to them personally, I will know their joy myself again soon enough. "True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be." -Ralph W. Sockman