No one is coming to save you. You have to take responsibility of your life so you can save yourself.
I’ve been debating with myself regarding the best way to express what I’m going to post. I want to make my points as clear and direct as I can, with the best of intentions. I will be blunt.
Don’t rely on anyone to come rescue you in life. It would be wonderful if we all can just sit back and let someone care for all our needs, hand and foot. Life would be so easy. Yes, you would feel pleasure. Little would you know that while you’re being seduced by the ease and comfort of this, you’d be handicapping yourself as well.
First, you would become accustomed to being cared for. You will take it for granted, sooner or later. Any level of high-quality service you receive, you’ll eventually grow accustomed to. When you don’t receive the level of service that you’ve come to expect, you tend to feel anger, frustration and disappointment. It’s like staying at Hilton Hotels for years and then finding yourself having to stay at the run-down motel just off of the interstate. Likewise, when you must provide for yourself, at best you’ll be greatly inconvenienced. At worst, you’ll feel depressed, despondent, and you would realize how “good” you had it before.
It’s not “good”, it’s getting spoiled off of the deeds of someone else. We always look for the biggest payoff for the least amount of effort; It’s just how our brains are wired. Having all our needs catered to like royalty is a dream that many of us have. However, it has a clear downside.
This shouldn't be confused with never asking for help if you need it.
I’m not saying you should never ask for and/or receive help from anyone. There are times when you should. Being able to ask for, and receive, help are particularly good social skills to have.
After all, there are times when you may need special assistance. For example, the extended Federal unemployment boost is a very necessary thing during the Coronavirus pandemic. It is the difference between keeping the lights on or getting thrown out on the street for many people. The virus really shows how vulnerable the worldwide economy is to a nasty, debilitating global illness. In drastic cases like this, I’ll gladly make an exception – please take this kind of help if you need it. Do not be so proud as to swear off all help during times of need. That’s not what I’m saying at all.
Otherwise, do for yourself when you should. Character is built when you provide for your own needs. Have goals and shoot for them. Be flexible in your approach and seek out any information you need to attain your goals. You can do it – you might just need knowledge and skills that you don’t possess. Seek out that which you lack. Sometimes, along the way, you’ll need the answers to new questions that come up. Oftentimes, we can’t know the answers we need until we reach a certain point in our journey.
You'll ultimately be better off in the long run.
You’ll be much happier overall when you take care of your own needs. You’ll have the pride of knowing you accomplished your goals by the sweat of your brow. There’s a certain pride that comes from self-employment in particular, a sense of steering your own ship and not relying on another person for a paycheck. If you are an employee, have a backup plan for when times get hard. In today’s world, no job is utterly secure.
Relying on others to save you stunts your growth, and burdens others unnecessarily. Don’t be that person. Save yourself. The needs that you can meet on your own, do so. Don’t be afraid to speak up for your needs that require other people. Don’t rely on others to be surrogate parents or caretakers.