On Getting Help
Asking is table stakes
There are two stages to getting help
Asking
Receiving
Some skip directly to Step 2 when they see a need. Watch out. It’s generally more about them than you. To people who fear asking it may seem like that’s the biggest challenge. It’s not. Over time it becomes clear that simply asking one person every so often isn’t that valuable. It’s necessary to ask multiple people the same request, based on the assumption that most won’t get back in a reasonable amount of time, or offer the same advice. Sort of like getting multiple opinions from a Doctor. But since it’s non-professional, there’s no expectation that the Doctor will actually help.
There’s also the tricky issue of reciprocation. Trying to reciprocate immediately leaves a transactional taste. Better to pay it forward and trust it’s restoring the Karmic Balance—if that’s your cup of tea.