Asking and Receiving

“Here are the two best prayers I know: 'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.’” (Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies).

I recently bought myself a bouquet of red gerbera daisies.  They are my favorite!  They are usually packaged with a green tube around their stems that helps support their large beautiful buds.   I took the tubes off, cut the stems, and arranged them nicely in the vase.  Within hours, the heads were drooping – how I feel when my head feels so big and full of thoughts and worry that the rest of me just can’t hold it up anymore.  Instead of putting the tubes back on I decided to pull them all together with a rubber band toward the top of their stems so they could “lean” on each other and have the support of the band to keep their heads up.  I smiled and realized these flowers were not only an important gift to myself that day but a valuable message…

Earlier in the week I told myself I wanted to practice receiving help – to let others be present in my “mess.”  So I swallowed hard and reached out to others.  Throughout the week, one by one, the most beautiful women came into my home or entered my life in some way and offered a hug, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a compassionate heart, an encouraging word.  I realized my bouquet had exactly the number of flowers to represent me and each woman from whom I received support that week.  And along with their compassionate hearts, I also found within me the ability to give myself nurture and support - an equally important lesson in my journey - that we all have within ourselves the ability to be gentle, kind, and compassionate to our own weary hearts.   When we ask and receive, we can stand just a little taller again.