Asking for help is difficult for me and for most people I know.
Why is asking for help so difficult? Is it
the wish to be independent?
based on bad experiences asking for help in the past?
the fear of rejection?
a fear of bothering others?
wanting to avoid unpleasant feelings in oneself and in other people?
a belief in the fragility of relationships?
counter to one’s self image as a helper to others?
an inability to find the right time and the right words?
Rather than ask for help, I will go to long and elaborate lengths to solve and accomplish things on my own. When I consider asking for help, I imagine other people’s negative reactions in words and facial expressions. When I do ask for help, I often preface it with “I have trouble asking for help.”
I feel like I need to ask for help in understanding why it is sooooo difficult to ask for help, considering that when I do ask for help, it usually turns out okay. Nevertheless, what sticks in my mind are the times that asking for help did not go well.
Help!
Last night on Twitter, I asked about what people had trouble asking for, and a vast majority of the hundreds of people answering said “help.”
Does it help to know you are not alone if you have trouble asking for help?
I’m relieved that I don’t have to ask for help in gathering and sharing my images for today.
We don’t have to get our lives in order in order to ask for help, you know.
I didn’t need help finding helpful videos to share today, including this …
Yesterday, the vet told us that Joan the cat’s skin problem is actually getting better.
With that in mind, I asked this question on Twitter last night:
Some people had many ideas about something that is actually getting better; others couldn’t think of a thing. Someone who reads this blog actually made me feel better with this comment:
Something else that is actually getting better for me is my immunity to COVID 19 and its variants, because I got my booster shot yesterday. As usual, I’m experiencing arm soreness and a fever the day after, but I’m sure that will actually be getting better very soon.
Yesterday, my son Aaron, my husband Michael, and I celebrated my job actually getting better by visiting an actually better gelato cafe.
Michael thinks Aaron looks like Rasputin these days so he thought it would actually be better if I added a sepia tinge to a photo of him.
I took all the photos in this post with my loaner phone from the Apple store, which I have while my phone is actually getting better.
Are my photographic and blogging skills actually getting better?
If we observed National Love People Day, I believe this world would actually be getting better.
This post is actually getting better with the addition of this song …
… and with any comment you choose to leave.
Every day is actually getting better whenever I express gratitude, so thanks to all who help my life get better, including YOU!
Why am I posting a photo of our late great cat Oscar today?Why did I order a book about Nashville?Why am I sometimes not wearing a mask outdoors?Why is there a mound of dirt in front of the local church?Why do I like taking pictures of animals wherever I go?Why did somebody hang an American flag and make it more difficult for people to get in their front door?Why do some vaccination locations in Boston give out cool buttons while others don’t?Why am I lucky enough to have a now-vaccinated husband who makes delicious meals like sablefish with figs?Why do I often take photos of Yogi tea sayings?Why do I love the Daily Bitch Calendar?Why does Harley love his favorite dry cat food, scorning EVERYTHING else except for popcorn?
Why am I engaging on Twitter these days?
Why did the late, great Professor Irwin Corey break down “Why” questions into two parts, where the first part was just “Why?” (which he could not really answer) and the second part was the rest of the question, which he simply answered “YES!”?
Let’s see how that works for today’s post, shall we?
The first part of all the questions I’ve asked today is Why?” “Why?” is a question that philosophers have been asking for millenniums. We all want to make meaning of what happens to us, and therefore we cry “Why?” from our souls into the world. “Why?” is ultimately unanswerable, especially by a humble person like me.
Now for the second parts of my “Why?” questions today:
Is “Why?” the title of my blog post today?
Do people ask “Why?” in my Coping and Healing groups?
Do songs pop into my head so easily?
Are those songs often Beatles songs?
Did I take all of these photos?
Am I posting a photo of our late great cat Oscar today?
Did I order a book about Nashville?
Am I sometimes not wearing a mask outdoors?
Is there a mound of dirt in front of the local church?
Do I like taking pictures of animals wherever I go?
Did somebody hang an American flag and make it more difficult for people to get in their front door?
Do some vaccination locations in Boston give out cool buttons while others don’t?
Am lucky enough to have a now-vaccinated husband who makes delicious meals like sablefish with figs?
Do I often take photos of Yogi tea sayings?
Do I love the Daily Bitch Calendar?
Does Harley love his favorite dry cat food, scorning EVERYTHING else except for popcorn?
Am I engaging on Twitter these days?
Did the late, great Professor Irwin Corey break down “Why” questions into two parts, where the first part was just “Why?” (which he could not really answer) and the second part was the rest of the question, which he simply answered “YES!”?
The answer to all those questions is “YES!”
Why do I ask for comments and express gratitude at the end of my blog posts?
to do whatever I can to make this life better for myself and others.
I do NOT need to vote because I already have.
I need to share that ten years ago, on Halloween, I met my future husband, Michael. Michael needs no introduction to regular readers of this blog, but here’s a post I wrote about him four very long years ago.
I also need to share my latest photos with you.
If I’m being serious and honest, almost everybody I know needs therapy these days.
I also need to tell you that this …
… is my amazing son, Aaron, who is doing his last year at the University of Edinburgh from our basement here in the USA. Isn’t that a cool picture? Aaron and I both needed our winter coats last night because of the early snow.
I also need to tell you that even though my husband Michael needs his privacy and is camera shy, his presence is there in several of today’s photos.
You don’t need to leave a comment, but it would be awesome if you did!
I need to thank everyone who helps me create a new blog post every day, including Michael, Aaron, Harley, the Beatles, the Daily Bitch Calendar, and YOU!
My father and I agreed about Ella Fitzgerald, 100%.
Consider spending a percentage of this beautiful day leaving a comment, below.
I’ve spent a major percentage of life experiencing and expressing gratitude, so thanks to all those who have helped me spend about 12% of my life creating these daily blogs, including YOU!
Be honest, please, and tell me how you would fill in the blank in today’s title.
Be aware that two of my photos from yesterday provide possibilities.
Be prepared to listen to some “Be” music (which should be here, here, and here on YouTube).
Be hopeful, my friends. And be confident enough to express your thoughts and feelings in a comment, be-low.
Finally, be open to accepting my thanks to all who helped me be ready to create this “Be ____” post, including the Ronettes, Mario Lanza, the Be-atles, and YOU.
Since I recovered from COVID-19 in March, I’ve been working non-stop.
Yesterday, a hard-working friend texted me that I should take a vacation and I replied “What is this ‘vacation’ that you speak of?”
As foreign as the concept seems, I will be getting a vacation from work to spend time with my son, who has finished up his school work for the year in Scotland.
Now it’s time to work this post with photos that show different ways of working it.
I had trouble working that dish by Michael into a recent post, so there it is, working it here and now.
There are several versions of the Beatles’ “We Can Work it Out” working it on YouTube, including here and here.
I’m looking forward to seeing our government working it better in future months and I’m looking forward to people working it in a comment, below.
When I first published this post, seven, which is a common lucky number, appeared twice in the number of today’s blog. (Since then, I discovered my numbers were off and I had to do a recount.) Seven is also the number of my previous blog posts about numbers (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).
It’s been quite a number of days since I last wrote a post about numbers (one thousand and eighty-two days,, but who’s counting?) I think “numbers” is a good topic, here and now, because there is so much in the news about numbers (number of new coronavirus cases, number of deaths, number of jobs lost, etc. etc.)
Also, this is today’s Daily Bitch:
Please take a number for your favorite photo from today’s post. That first photo, above, is, of course, #1.
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#21
#22
#23
I think there are a number of people who would not allow a cat to be on the dining room table.
Now I have to prepare for a panel discussion about doing therapy groups remotely during the age of the coronavirus. There are four people on the panel and I have eight minutes to talk about my Coping and Healing groups. I don’t know if that will be too much, too little, or just right.
I’ll let you know how it goes in post # 2728.
I have a large number of photos indicating gratitude, and here are just a few of them:
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 