Help Others Help Yourself

It is a cultural thing. Many of us grew up being taught to help and prioritise others’ needs over our own without ever being told to take care of ourselves. The latter tends to be seen as a selfish act, with the exception of some very extreme circumstances. At times, we feel the sense of social obligation telling us to be nice to people and to temporarily forget about being nice to ourselves; but more often than not, we end up not being attentive of our feelings until much later, which can be extremely mentally draining. I personally struggled (and still am) with asking others for help for a number of reasons. It was not until recently (when I was in a terrible health condition) that I started to learn the importance of reaching out for support from others. In this concerning period, when we are not always having help available by our sides, it often comes in necessary to know how to seek for help when in need. Thus, I want to write a few words to let anyone who is having difficulty with asking others for help know that it is critical in these moments in time that they do so.