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Joe Boyd
Help. It’s a word that evokes many different emotions.
How do you feel about asking people for help? How do you feel when people ask you for help?
My guess is that for many of us the answer is the same … it depends.
Some of us were brought up to believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness. For me, I wanted to “do it myself” since I was a kid. (It’s one of the first things we all learn to say as toddlers for a reason.) After a series of less-than-desirable outcomes trying to do it all myself, I started asking for help. And if there has been a secret to any success I have, that’s it.
Sometimes I will help people I don’t know or don’t trust. There’s something to being generous with no strings attached that is good for the soul. That’s not really the kind of help I am talking about today, though. I’m talking about when a friend asks for help. When that happens, I generally don’t have to think much about it. When someone I respect needs something I have, it’s an honor to give it to them. I’d actually feel slighted if they didn’t ask. I haven’t always gone out of my way to discover my friends who need help … unfortunately, that’s not necessarily part of my default personality. That’s why I need people to ask me—sometimes more than once.
This is a big week for me and the rest of us here at Rebel Pilgrim. You may have noticed that my blog has transferred over to this brand new (and still in beta test) site called RebelStorytellers.com. Be patient with us as we work out the bugs, but this site exists to facilitate a community of help. We want to create a place where people help others get UNSTUCK. Part of Rebel Storytellers is this blog, which will have many unique voices: artists, therapists, urban gardeners, entrepreneurs, social visionaries, professors, students, ministers, career counselors, recent college grads and devoted grandparents. This site will be a place for people of all backgrounds, faiths and experiences to help others get unstuck. I’m honored to write the first post here. I believe millions of people worldwide are going to receive hope and be spurred to action by the posts, images, videos, poems and stories that will come behind this one in the years to come.
The blog isn’t the only big thing happening through Rebel Storytellers this week. Tomorrow I will be asking all of you for help to launch a new experiment. I’ve never needed your help more. I’ve never been more excited to ask for your help than I am this time. We are still working out a few details, but I will announce this new huge initiative tomorrow, Wednesday June 4th at 9:15 PM EST here on the new blog site. There are those rare times in life when everything up to that point makes sense in light of the current opportunity. For me, this new initiative is that. I can’t wait to share more.
Ultimately what I have come to is that helping someone you want to help is the most fair thing you can do. Nothing feels better than to help and be helped within a community of love, honor and respect. Thank you to all of you who have helped me and allowed me to help you thus far. We’ve only just begun.
Stay tuned.
Photo (Flickr CC) by Zsolt Fila
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Joe Boyd
Latest posts by Joe Boyd (see all)
- 3 Reasons Storytelling Wins - July 15, 2015
- The First Question Jesus Asks Us - June 1, 2015
- Our Mother, Who Art in Heaven? - May 10, 2015
- Struggling With Your Faith? - May 5, 2015
- Why The Bible Is Myth - April 27, 2015