Happy Wednesday!
I just got off the phone with my mom.
We were coordinating weekends - times she and my dad could help with the house, watch the kids, just participate in this season of life with us.
In the middle of the conversation I realized something:
I’m not very good at asking for help.
Usually I frame it as independence. “I’ve got it.” “I don’t want to inconvenience anyone.”
If I’m honest it’s just pride. All I’m really saying is, “Surely I will do it.”
Yikes!
When’s the last time you asked for help or just graciously accepted the help offered?
⚡️ F5 Fast Files - Short Summary
Strength isn’t just about getting back up - sometimes it’s accepting help up.
Relationships only work if you give AND if you receive. Let yourself receive!
Swallow your pride - How many blessings are contingent only on your asking?
🎵 Backup Plan
There’s a country song that came out last year that goes,
“Gettin’ back up, that’s the only backup plan you need.”
I love that.
I’m a huge advocate for resilience.
Discipline. Diligence. Grinding.
But I wonder if we’ve gone too far. Too lone wolf in that mentality. Too “sigma”.
It reminds me of practically getting pulled to the finish line by my little brother who wouldn’t let me stop at the end of the iron man. He didn’t run a single step or “get back up” for me! But his hand held mine high when we crossed the finish line together.
“Get back up” and “Keep Going” are powerful messages, but that doesn’t mean getting back up alone!
🥣 Please, Sir…
Let me be clear about one thing.
I don’t believe in expecting handouts, but in value exchange.
In business, you provide value and in return receive value.
Money is simply the tool for transferring or representing that value.
But not all value is monetary; it can be relational or spiritual too.
Serving others without payment doesn’t make them a charity case, just generates value in a different form. Service if foundational to strengthening relationships and it is spiritually ennobling to serve!
By the same token, it doesn’t make YOU a charity case if you allow others to serve you.
❤️ The Grateful Receiver
A decade or so ago I remember hearing a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf at a Christmas devotional where he described how, “A grateful receiver is just as important as a thoughtful giver.”
Think about it!
This is on full display today at my house build.
I started working on our block wall a couple months ago and had the foundation poured and materials delivered, planning on doing it myself to save a good grip of cash. Well, turns out the way I poured those footings made the project a lot harder than it needed to be.
My pride turned ignorance into a mistake.
Today, I’m trying to channel my grateful receiver as I let my new Guatemalan friend come show me how to make the corrections, work we me for the first little bit, and probably “tsk tsk” all along the way.
How many of us never get help or even solve the problem ourselves by trying to avoid all the ‘tsk’ers along the way?
If they’re shaking their head in disappointment, that’s their problem. Exercise a bit of humility to ask for help anyway, even if you have to endure their dramatic sigh.
🔥 A Hand Up
I don’t know who (besides me) needed to hear that today, but look, we’re a brotherhood and leaning on each other is part of the program!
I’m also learning again how to ask for help or accept it when it’s offered. Thank you! (Looking at several of you who have helped on my house or watched my kids, etc)
I still believe in getting back up, but sometimes growth requires asking someone to help you stand.
Thanks for the hand,
Justin
F5 Brotherhood
P.S - The LinkTree is still your hub for everything F5 Brotherhood
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