“I need help.”
“What can I do?”
“Listen.”
SILENCE
“Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“The sound of my tears.”
My entire career has been spent in the helping professions. From the first job I had in high school as a veterinarian’s assistant, through decades as a teacher and a stay-at-home mom, to the role I retired from as a counsellor, the ability to help others has been a central theme. One truth I’ve discovered is that, for some, asking for help can be very difficult. I’ve also come to understand that it can be just as hard to accept help, when it is offered.
In the conversation above, who is shedding the tears? Is it the helper, or the person asking for help? I purposely left the voices unassigned, because the emotions can be felt from either person, depending on the circumstances.
I have been moved to the point of tears when someone trusted me enough to let me see their pain. In such a circumstance, I feel privileged to reach out and lend a helping hand to support someone in their time of need.
I’ve also shed tears when life brought to my knees and I had to ask for help from others. More emotional still, are the times when I didn’t even know I needed help, but a special person took the time to say something encouraging, or took action of some sort that, I realized later, was a true blessing.
Is this a painting of someone reaching out FOR help, or TO help? Either one takes a special kind of courage, and is an emotional portal that we all need to navigate through, at some point in our lives.
What side of this portal are you on today?