No one likes to feel helpless, yet aren’t we all, in truth, helpless and without that realization we are just kidding ourselves? For example when you are sick do you treat yourself or go to a family doctor? Can you prescribe drugs, MRIs, and other tests? Do you pay 100 percent of the expenses from your cash reserves or do you rely on insurance, Medicare or Medicaid?

We all like to claim we are self-sufficient but I presume very few of us generate our own electricity or have our own natural gas pipeline. Even, with the exclusion of those major staples we are still not able to take care of ourselves. It’s the various jobs, products, and services of all the people that make up our sufficiency. It’s a global sufficiency not an individual sufficiency. In other words it takes people helping people to create sufficiency.

So we might have to admit to being more helpless than we originally thought, but it should never give rise to feeling hopeless. Relying on one another for goods and services gives us all a share in humanity. Each of us contributes to society with the talents we have for the welfare of our families and others. Together we have a vested interest in building a hopeful society with a strong economy.

Hope is an expectation or desire for certain things to happen. Hope is optimism for positive outcomes. Hope is a feeling of faith and trust. A person without hope has nothing. Hope is necessary for a person to elevate himself, to make the effort, to find purpose, meaning and worth. So while we might admit many things within our world make us feel helpless — we do not have to be hopeless. We do the things we can do, we change the things we can, we hope for change with the things we cannot control.

Continuing to use Health Care as an example; in order to get better we must first admit we are ill. We must commit ourselves to a family physician and most likely that physician will direct us on to a specialist. We may have to trek to another town for Labs more than once. If our diagnosis requires a surgery or treatment we will be referred to a surgical team or a treatment center. Afterwards we may require rehab or convalescent care. Our hope to improve our health started out with acknowledging our own personal helplessness and seeking the help we required. Each person within the medical network used their specialized skills to assist us in achieving optimal health. It wasn’t one individual but a network.

Networking has been the buzz word for at least a couple of decades but it is usually used in terms of social or media networking, or even business networking for promotion and growth. But each of us belongs to the Human Network; connected to one another by virtue of life, and we are to assist on one another in every aspect of life. Sometimes all we have to contribute to another is a warm smile or a comforting word, but those are capable of elevating the human spirit more than gold.

And here are the benefits: Helping others can actually add purpose to our life, make us happy, lower our blood pressure, boost our self-esteem, extend our life span, reduce chronic pain, and give us inner peace. While asking for help can allow new connections to form, reduce workload, increase motivation, and complete tasks otherwise beyond our capacity.

“Asking for help benefits both parties; in humility and in self-giving respectfully.”

“Helping others, encouraging others when multiplied by millions of people can transform the world.” ~C. Edwards

“When life is hard ask for help. When life is good reach out to the people who need your help.” ~Unknown

Sending birthday wishes to Mark Kunk, Katie Mescher Francis, Gloria Burns, Ron Brewer, Jessica Groff, Russell Marchal, Judy Monnin, Susan McEldowney, Chad Monnin, Lauren Prenger, Amy Dirksen, Sue Christian, Carly Bolin, Lynn Drees, Gerry Drees, Nicholas Bohman, Tyler Ward, Lori Potter, Lil Bruns, Barbara Rethlake, Tony Baltes, Jill Siegel, Mike Magoteaux, Kathy Gehret, Alex Kelch, Lindsey Ausborn, Ken DeMange, Karen Hilgefort, Janet Luthman, Carla Drees, Eli Oliver, Jeff Minnich, Connie Klenke, Mary Lou Unger, Chad Marshall, Lois Lyons as their birthdays approach. Anniversary wishes to Kathy and Dave Miller (52), and Naomi and Don Bemis (66).

Please give your supportive and healing prayers for the many who are dealing with any of life’s countless challenges and those who are living their new normal, recuperating, or under medical care, and in need of our prayers.

Heartfelt sympathy is extended to the family and friends of Edna Grilliot, Karen Fullenkamp, Alice DeMange, Sally Coomer, Joan Langenkamp and all those who are in our hearts but not mentioned by name as the anniversary of their passing nears.