Council

One thing that I have learned to a new level in the past 12-14 months is how to receive help.

I am very self-sufficient.  I always have been.  I don’t ask for help easily – and it’s not always a pride thing.  Sometimes people think that not asking for help automatically equals pride.  But, it doesn’t.  I just think that I can figure it out, so why bother anyone?  I’m a pretty smart gal with a healthy creativity, a good work ethic, and a stubborn streak a mile wide . . I mean, I will figure things out!  There is never a question.

BUT, just because I can do something, does not mean that is the best use of my time.  That sentence is really how it had to be phrased for me.  There is a saying that “just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should do something”.  That phrasing doesn’t work for me.  I do a lot of things that people tell me I shouldn’t do.  “Shouldn’t” is a very broad term.

So it took 30-something years for me to finally grasp that I should ask for help for a number of reasons.  1)  Someone else can share their expertise in 5 minutes, instead of it taking me three days of research.  2) Their 5 minutes of expertise will be better information than my three days of research.  3)  If I’m not researching for three days, I can do a lot more things in those three days that I am actually good at.  4)  I can learn from the 5 minutes of expertise and be better prepared for the future.  And 5) I can build a network of these smarter people to rely on.  The smarter they are, the more I know!

Tonight I am thankful that I really have been blessed with building a good council of people in the past year.  As life continues, I pray to expand this council regularly with people of knowledge, patience, and the heart of a teacher.