If you're feeling broken, what does it take to change you?
I had a problem at one time and every morning I would look in the mirror and know that I knew I had this problem, but that just for today I would continue to keep it a secret, hope that it would go away by itself or that there'd be some kind and gentle intervention that would mean I didn't have to worry about it anymore.
Neither of those things happened - there wasn't an easy way through, but I did find a way and now I don't have that problem any more.
We're often told that the first step to dealing with something is acknowledging it to ourselves. In my experience it is that AND acknowledging it to someone else, admitting there's a problem and hearing what someone else thinks. That's hard. It was hard for me. With smaller things now, it's still hard - sometimes I wonder why something's not working the way I want it to and then suddenly realise that it's because I'm trying to work it out all by myself. Self-reliance is deeply ingrained in me.
So I'm always glad to hear it when someone opens up about what's really going on for them, even if it's something that I have no direct experience with, because I know that the least I can do is to encourage them to keep admitting it and keep asking for help.
Well said
Too true man, I know part of it for me as an American man is that whole expectation of "rugged individualism" that can really play a big part in not asking anyone for help. It's something I still struggle with to this day and I'm happy to get a reminder of this in the form of your post. Humans are social creatures and we need each other, we are stronger together and denying that part of ourselves can often lead to disastrous results.
This might be double-edged sword. Some people might be supportive and others are not. It is critical to be picky about whom we open up to. On energetic level telling ones plans often take from the energy we hold for something. Haven’t you ever felt less enthusiastic about a goal once you told someone about?
People are different in respect to their energies, some when we open up to them, some boost our energy while others hinder it.