On asking for help

Lance and I are both pretty independent, not asking for too much help, other than the occasional baby sitting service from our mom's or Aunt Kathy. But I'm learning to ask for help. And appreciate it even more when someone just offers without my asking. Better yet, just shows up ready to help.

I pride myself in my list making- checking off skills.  It might be a sickness.  Sometimes if I've done something that's not on the list, I write it on there just so I can mark it off.  Anyone else do that?  Oh.  No? 

However, with this recent move, I'd be lying if I said my lists weren't a bit overwhelming. 

In the past, I liked doing things myself.  Make me a big ole gigantic check list and attack it with vigor.  Ask for help?  Nope.  Not me.  I can do it.

But.  This past move.  We could not have done it without the help of our family and friends.

I decided that if things were going to get done, I was going to have to ask for help.

From long weekends spent at the house cleaning up, to late nights painting I knew we were going to need help.  Even if it was just someone to watch Easton while we worked.  That was some of the best help offered! 

Being Type-A to the max, I wanted (needed) to pack and unpack and put away every single item in our house.  But this time, it was different.  Friends and family jumped right in to help pack and unpack and even put away.  And you know what, it was ok if I didn't arrange the office supplies, or didn't fully decorate the built in on my own, or clean the bathrooms for the first time.  Because.  It's DONE.  And that means more time to sit and relax.  Eventually.  That is, once I get everything else checked off my list. 

Why is is that it has taken me 30 years to figure out that it's ok to ask for help? Does it make me a better mom or wife if I can do it all myself? Does it make me less of a mom or wife if I need help? No. I think maybe it makes me a better mom/wife if I ask for help because I am much more at ease knowing that things are getting done, either by me or by someone else. Point is...they're getting done.

How about you.  Are you more inclined to ask for help, or are you a do-it-myself kind of person?  I'm learning that it's ok to be a good mix of both.   

“Asking for help does not mean that we are weak or incompetent. It usually indicates an advanced level of honesty and intelligence.” - Anne Wilson Schaef