My job is to acknowledge the need for help and humbly ask for it. I recently had several great reminders to get out of the way and let the answers come from where they are supposed to.
The first and most recent example… A lady reached out on one of the Recovery pages I am on asking for help. She lives in North Carolina, and I don’t know anyone from the town she is in. I posted on Facebook and waited for replies. The next morning I woke up to a text from a former co-worker who isn’t in Recovery. She connected me to a woman she knows in that town and asked if she might know someone in Recovery to connect this lady to. In all my years, I have never had a non-program person go so out of their way to try and help.
Next story… A few weeks ago my sponsor and I were talking about me going back to therapy. It is a challenge with my travel schedule, but I know I need to get help. While recently in Toronto for a business trip, I received an e-mail from my insurance company. It discussed the availability of online therapy. I called when I got home and have an appointment scheduled.
Last example: I have been doing WW and have had daily morning calls with a coach for the last several months. Recently, one of my coaches abruptly quit, and the other has been having technical issues with her phone. Our calls have been spotty at best. Accountability is very important to me with my food. Those that understand know what I am talking about. I happened to be meeting with a friend right after all this. The short version is that a few of us now have a daily check-in text group to be accountable for our food. I know enough about the program that, with the help of my friends, I think I will be able to successfully continue without the WW coaches I depended on regularly.
I could go on… these are just three recent examples. It was a great reminder to not have expectations about where my help comes from. After I ask for help, it is important for me to then let it go. If I only look for help where I expect it to be, I may very well miss the answers I truly need.