Something Good

It is so funny how sometimes the most obvious solution to a problem is the one that never comes to mind.  I had a couple of experiences last week that reminded me that sometimes common sense should really be applied a lot more liberally than it is.  This became especially evident when I got a couple of reminders that the best way to get an answer to a question is . . . to actually ask it!  Today I’m suggesting that each of us do Something Good for ourselves by being bold enough to ask for what we want.  In my case, it was information, but you could extrapolate this idea into asking for a raise, help with a project or possibly even more attention from someone you know.

In my case, the realization came to me after I stepped waaay outside of my comfort zone to ask advice from someone who many consider to be an expert in her field (Wendy at eMoms at Home).  I’ve had a lot of questions for her, but I never wanted to be a nuisance.  After all, she gets paid to give people advice in her field.  Last week, I swallowed the lump in my throat and went ahead and asked one of my questions.  I was really nervous about it, hoping she wouldn’t just flick me off like some pesky bug.  Instead, she responded by inviting me to ask her more questions.  Now, that is definitely not what I was expecting!  I guess some of it kind of goes back to that third agreement:  Don’t make assumptions.

Bolstered by this response, I went ahead and asked someone else a question.  In this case, I really liked the photos used on a particular blog, and I was curious as to whether they purchased them, got them for free, or took the pictures themselves.  My particular question was way off the topic, but it was something that I really wanted to know.  Besides, if they get their pictures for free, I want to know how so I can use their source for the Something Good blog!  Again, I hoped they wouldn’t be annoyed with my nosey/newbie/naïve/irrelevant question.  Again, I was surprised by the response:  They thanked me for the compliment!  I was so worried that I was wasting their time, I forgot that my thoughts might actually mean something to them.

So, what kinds of questions could you be asking?  Sometimes we don’t ask because we’re afraid to, but many times we just forget that we have that option available to us.  Perhaps we were brought up believing that we should be “seen and not heard,” or we’ve gotten so used to doing everything on our own that it doesn’t occur to us to ask for help.  I’ve had the latter happen a lot of times.  Darling Husband Rob was going to take the digital camera out of town with him, for example, and I thought, “Now I’m not going to be able to post those pictures on Craigslist while he’s gone.”  It took quite a while before I realized, “Hey, I know other people who have digital cameras that would probably let me use one for an afternoon.”

Do Something Good by keeping your eyes open for opportunities when it would benefit you to ask questions.  They could be requests for information (Where do you get the photos you use on the site?), or they could be requests for action (Could you bring your digital camera down for a couple of hours on Friday?).  It’s amazing when you realize that other people really are willing and able to assist you in a ton of different ways!