Solo No More

I used to be one of those people who never asked for help. I thought I was bothering people by letting them know what was wrong with me. I was that person who would rather endure whatever painful situation happening to me than to open my mouth and ask for help. Apart from the fact that I didnt want to bother people, I also felt I could do everything on my own.

There was this day I experienced a terrible stomachache and instead of calling someone to help me, I just sat in my living room waiting for probably an Angel to appear and carry me to the nearest health center. I was there for three days until a colleague of mine visited me unannounced after not seeing me at work and also not reaching my number.

After I recovered, my colleague approached me oneday and called me selfish. My first response was “excuse me?” because why would you just come up on me and called me that at my desk. I actually began thinking about what I could have possibly done to earn myself such a title but I couldn’t get any. And that was when he followed up with “why do you do that?”

At that point, I was getting angry but he completely ignored that and gave me the most emotional scolding ever. And as he began to speak, all his words were followed by tears. Honestly, I knew people cared about me and those people were mostly my family but I never thought of acquaintances. He then asked me if I thought about what would have happened to the people around me if something bad had happened to me.

That was when I got his point and he was right. My attitude of always doing everything myself and never asking for help had gotten out of hand to a stage which could actually put me in danger. And I wasn’t thinking about the people around me. And in as much as I always hesitated to ask them for help, they weren’t just any people. They were my friends and family. People who have my best interest at heart.

Now, I ask for help when I need it. I don’t wait to get overwhelmed with something before running to someone. Whether we like it or not, nobody is an island. There’s a reason why we were born into families. There’s a reason why we meet people each and everyday. It’s okay if you think you are a loner and always want to be alone but just know it is also okay to seek help from the right people when you need it.