Look for the Helpers

We feel their presence, but don’t always see it or acknowledge it

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” — John Donne, 1624

It feels good to be independent, doesn’t it?

To look at a project or opportunity, assess your abilities and past achievements, and think, “Yeah, I can do this. I don’t need any help.”

In reality, none of us achieves what we do or gets where we are completely on our own.

From childhood on, we look for ways to be free of the confines and constraints that others put on us.

I remember a time — I must have been all of five or six years old — when I so frustrated by the rules my parents made, I announced that I was running away (haven’t we all had a moment like this?) to my grandparents. Because all grandparents seem to operate without the same rules and restrictions of parents.

My mom sat and watched as I packed my little suitcase, trying to contain her dueling feelings of amusement and anguish. As I exited the door in a huff, I headed to the end of the driveway before abrupt…