August 3, 2025 • 5 mins
Accept other people's offers of assistance
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that help tends to come through other people.
So if you are in a situation where you need
some help, be open to what others can give you,
(00:29):
and you just might find yourself doing a lot better.
So there is an often told story about a very
righteous religious man who is trapped in his house by
a flood. As the water rises, he prays that God
will rescue him. A rescue team comes by, but he
(00:49):
waves them off because he is certain that God will intervene.
Then a boat comes by and he waves that off too. Finally,
a helicopter hovers outside his window, but he is still
waiting for the Almighty Alas, that doesn't happen, and when
he finds himself at the pearly gates, he asks God
(01:13):
what went wrong? God, frustrated, notes that he sent a
rescue team, a boat, and a helicopter. What else was
he supposed to do? Now? I imagine that most of
us aren't that stubborn, but all of us couldn't realize
that when we need help in life, most likely that
(01:36):
help is going to come in the form of other people.
If you are depressed, you can hope that the depression
will go away, and it might, but most likely that
will happen through the care of a physician, the help
of a therapist, and the support of family and friends.
(01:57):
You can hope to find a job that won't make
you miserable, but that new job will most likely come
through an old colleague or a neighbor who knows someone
who is hiring and puts in a good word for you.
Even something like finding a new place to live is
likely going to be the result of someone forwarding you
(02:18):
a listing that she saw. We simply can't be aware
of everything in the world, and the more deeply you
are in a problem, the less likely you are to
know the solution. It's going to have to come from
somewhere else. This seems simple enough, but I think a
lot of us don't think about reaching out for help
(02:40):
and being open to the help that is offered nearly enough.
We don't want to take advantage of people, and we shouldn't.
But if a friend asked you for something that was
within your power to do, my guess is that you
would be happy to do it, and so if you
are in a tough patch, be willing to reach out
(03:02):
can make your life easier. A neighbor just might be
willing to run to the drugstore for pediolite if you
are stuck home alone with a sick kid. On a
recent flight, a woman asked the flight attendant if she
could ask us all to sit for twenty seconds so
she could leave the plane to make a very tight connection.
(03:24):
So the flight attendant asked, and we did, and everyone
wished the woman good luck as she hustled down the aisle,
and if people offered to help take it. My accountant
recently offered to do something for me that perhaps I
could have figured out with a very long call to
the irs, but she was going to be a lot faster.
(03:48):
A parent who was already at an event offered to
drive my kids home so I didn't have to go
out in the rain with my little ones. Wow, was
I happy about that. If you are a nice and
normal person, you probably don't make unreasonable requests, and you
help others when you can as well. So go ahead
(04:11):
and make life easier for yourself by saying yes to
the help that is offered and asking for what you need.
If you believe the story of the man with the
boat in the helicopter. Even divine help is going to
come through other people, so be open to it and
you will probably wind up better off. In the meantime,
(04:37):
This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from him. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then Breakfast
p o D. You can also shoot me an email
at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before
(05:12):
Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that help tends to come through other people.
So if you are in a situation where you need
some help, be open to what others can give you,
(00:29):
and you just might find yourself doing a lot better.
So there is an often told story about a very
righteous religious man who is trapped in his house by
a flood. As the water rises, he prays that God
will rescue him. A rescue team comes by, but he
(00:49):
waves them off because he is certain that God will intervene.
Then a boat comes by and he waves that off too. Finally,
a helicopter hovers outside his window, but he is still
waiting for the Almighty Alas, that doesn't happen, and when
he finds himself at the pearly gates, he asks God
(01:13):
what went wrong? God, frustrated, notes that he sent a
rescue team, a boat, and a helicopter. What else was
he supposed to do? Now? I imagine that most of
us aren't that stubborn, but all of us couldn't realize
that when we need help in life, most likely that
(01:36):
help is going to come in the form of other people.
If you are depressed, you can hope that the depression
will go away, and it might, but most likely that
will happen through the care of a physician, the help
of a therapist, and the support of family and friends.
(01:57):
You can hope to find a job that won't make
you miserable, but that new job will most likely come
through an old colleague or a neighbor who knows someone
who is hiring and puts in a good word for you.
Even something like finding a new place to live is
likely going to be the result of someone forwarding you
(02:18):
a listing that she saw. We simply can't be aware
of everything in the world, and the more deeply you
are in a problem, the less likely you are to
know the solution. It's going to have to come from
somewhere else. This seems simple enough, but I think a
lot of us don't think about reaching out for help
(02:40):
and being open to the help that is offered nearly enough.
We don't want to take advantage of people, and we shouldn't.
But if a friend asked you for something that was
within your power to do, my guess is that you
would be happy to do it, and so if you
are in a tough patch, be willing to reach out
(03:02):
can make your life easier. A neighbor just might be
willing to run to the drugstore for pediolite if you
are stuck home alone with a sick kid. On a
recent flight, a woman asked the flight attendant if she
could ask us all to sit for twenty seconds so
she could leave the plane to make a very tight connection.
(03:24):
So the flight attendant asked, and we did, and everyone
wished the woman good luck as she hustled down the aisle,
and if people offered to help take it. My accountant
recently offered to do something for me that perhaps I
could have figured out with a very long call to
the irs, but she was going to be a lot faster.
(03:48):
A parent who was already at an event offered to
drive my kids home so I didn't have to go
out in the rain with my little ones. Wow, was
I happy about that. If you are a nice and
normal person, you probably don't make unreasonable requests, and you
help others when you can as well. So go ahead
(04:11):
and make life easier for yourself by saying yes to
the help that is offered and asking for what you need.
If you believe the story of the man with the
boat in the helicopter. Even divine help is going to
come through other people, so be open to it and
you will probably wind up better off. In the meantime,
(04:37):
This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from him. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then Breakfast
p o D. You can also shoot me an email
at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before
(05:12):
Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Before Breakfast News
Host
Laura Vanderkam
Show Links
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