Is asking for help really that difficult?

I think it’s funny how things work out. In the past several years I have been very independent, feeling able to do everything without the assistance of friends and family. Asking for help has been something that I have been working on since living here but is a constant struggle still. A colleague gave me several bags of food because they were headed back to the States. As I was being dropped off by him, he asked if I needed help carrying the many bags of groceries as well as a coffee maker. The amount of goods would be large loads for two people, but instead of receiving help I struggled to grip everything as I trudged up to my apartment. Ridiculous.

Here I am today, one good ankle. Been on crutches since last Friday and will be until tomorrow. Asking for help is mandatory. Had to ask someone to go to the grocery store with me because of my lack of ability to carry the basket. I had a football meeting a few days ago and was required to make it be in a location close to my apartment. I hate doing stuff like that, making someone go the extra mile because of me whether that be helping me out or meeting up somewhere out of the way for the other person. It isn’t that I feel that I could do things better. I am simply insanely stubborn and do not want to put the burden on someone else. But in the long run, it ends up keeping people away from me. People want to help whether that has to do with a sprained ankle or without. I do not allow this to happen. I guess what has really hit me is how I heard before that you aren’t able to help unless you allow people to help you. Now this could be stretched into something a little much but I do see some validity in the statement. I need to ask for help. I need to allow people to see that I truly am not able to do it on my own.