It’s Never Wrong to Ask for Help
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. If anything, it’s a sign of strength. You’re able to self-evaluate and realise that you can’t quite manage everything on your own. So many people push through difficult times in their life without reaching out – it took a huge amount of courage for me to finally realise I needed help whilst I was at university. And this doesn’t just mean with mental health.
I would refuse to ask for help when it came to money, getting myself into situations where I’d honestly just live of a can on beans a day until my bank account was replenished. But now I’ve realised that this part of my life I’m in now, it won’t be forever. Financially crippled, but instead of allowing it to spark too much anxiety I feel safe in the knowledge I have generous friends/family who would help me if I needed it. Right now I’m not in the stage of my life where I should be living lavishly. I’ve chosen to focus on rowing and to do that I have given up things. Although asking for help with money can seem embarrassing, I try not to let it get to me and instead think that as soon as I’ve sorted myself out and have moved on to the stage in my life where I have more than loose change then I can pay back those who have helped me.
With rowing I’ve never really been afraid to ask for help. Although it can be frustrating when it feels like the help isn’t given, or the time isn’t there to be spent on me. I feel so blessed and honoured to be spending my time rowing and training at Leander, but with girls aiming for GB trials it can be easy to felt left behind. However, that hasn’t stopped me. Most of my sessions on the water are spent just guessing what I should be doing and I’ve realised that I’m never going to catch up without any intense one-to-one coaching. I’ve finally reached out and hopefully that’ll help me in the long run.
Help is available to you no matter what it is you are struggling with; you just gotta find the right person to lend the hand.
Natalie X
