What do you do when things are hard and you feel alone? Why is it that when things feel the toughest, we feel the most isolated? What makes us feel so lonely when challenges come our way? I think that maybe it’s because we’re afraid to ask for help. We’re scared that our problems aren’t big enough. That there are other people who have bigger problems, which somehow invalidate our own. We’re scared that our problems aren’t real enough. That we should be able to figure them out by now. We’re scared that our problems are not valid enough. That everybody deals with this kind of thing, and we just need to get over it.
Learning how to ask for help when you need it is one of the strongest things you can do. Asking for help is a strength. Not asking for help can feel like strength at first. But over time, it can become a quiet form of weakness, one that breaks connection, trust, and confidence in others. We convince ourselves that if we ask for help, we’re somehow admitting to the world that we’re not perfect. But here’s the thing. You’re not perfect. And nobody expects you to be. When you ask for support, you bring people in. You humanize yourself. The greatest power in your life is the people you surround yourself with.