Why Is It So Hard To Ask For & Accept Help?

My story and some psychological insight into why it’s so hard to accept help.

Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

I’m am one of those people who LOVES spending money on and helping other people. It’s not selfless, I get joy and happiness from it.

But the giving I get from my mom, who is the most selfless, honest, kindest person I know.

Examples:

• She met a lonely elderly man at a grocery store a few years ago. They ended up chatting and somehow, over the next year, she became not just his friend, but his family. She is his medical proxy, talks to him almost daily, has taken over his accounts to pay his bills for him, keeps his kids (who live out of state) up to date on his health, and drives across town to visit him in his assisted living facility weekly (except for during Covid). Basically, she adopted a parent at the grocery store.
• A sort-of friend-of-a-friend needed somewhere to stay and didn’t have anyone to go to. Mom heard about it and offered for the woman to LIVE IN HER HOUSE. The woman ended up staying for over a year, paying a nominal rent, until she got back on her feet.
• She spent 37 years as a public school teacher, giving all of herself to her students.
• Oh, and out of her own money…