“If you need help, call me”

“Remember, if u need any help call me. I know u are very independent, knowledgeable and resourceful, but call me all the same – for anything – to laugh – to cry – to gripe when homesickness hits” wrote Marcia, my friend from high school. I hadn’t been in touch with Marcia since we graduated from Wolmer’s, some xx years (decades?) ago, but we recently reconnected on Facebook and in person when I landed in Canada last month.

In this transition from the known (Jamaica) to the unknown (Canada), I am learning the value and joy of opening and accepting offers of help. As Marcia intimated, my self-reliance can sometimes be an obstacle on my life’s journey. I have often chary of offers of help, seeing them almost as insults to my independence. I am the ultimate do-it-myselfer. My instinctive response to offers of help is “It’s OK, I can do it” and proceed apace to do it – or at least attempt to do ti! With time, I realize that in so doing, I am depriving my friends and family of the joy of giving. Indeed, I am an impediment in the cycle of giving and receiving which is so necessary in the Divine Flow of the Universe.

I am opening up now to the many, many offers of help – large and small, but all important and significant to my wellbeing. In particular, the following offers have come my way and have been accepted perhaps not readily, but eventually:

1. My yoga teacher offering to pay for my final yoga class in Jamaica – my instinctive response was “No, that’s OK”, but then I recanted and accepted with grace
2. This then caused me to reconsider the offer of my friend in Canada to use her car – a BMW X5, which had caused me real consternation. I slept on it, gulped and said “yes”!
3. My brother and sister-in-law giving my children and me full reign in their home for a week before our departure, allowing us a respite from the confusion that our own home had become
4. Our former driver offering to be on standby for whatever my transportation needs
5. Dear friends offering for us to stay with them until our apartment is ready – a total of 8 days of hospitality
6. My friend’s husband offering his days off from work to help us move into our apartment
7. My sister offering to finalise all arrangements in Jamaica in the wake of our departure – including moving my doggies to boarding, a very, very emotional experience. She didn’t actually offer, but it was understood that this would happen – that’s the way we have always worked

There are many, many other offers that I have accepted. There are others that I have not yet accepted, but that I will, as I practice the grace of receiving. I have no compunction in calling now if and when I need help. I am opening up to the flow of the Universe and becoming a healthy part of it.

Today, accept an offer for help with grace. Allow someone else the joy of giving. And feel for yourself the joy of receiving and being a part of the Divine Flow.