The Kindness of Having People on Our Team

"We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone."

~ Ronald Reagan

On NPR this morning, I heard a touching story about a gentleman with autism who recently had a very difficult time with flight delays.  The gentleman recounted how he had felt completely overwhelmed, and wound up crying and upset for hours at the airport – something that had not happened to him since childhood. But no one approached him to ask him what was wrong.  Finally, an airline employee noticed him and offered help.  The gentleman with autism said that it was so significant to him to be recognized as a person and to feel that he had someone on his team.  With the employee’s help, he was able to get onto the next flight.  And his being able to deal with that very difficult situation emboldened him to deal with other challenges.

That story reminded me of a recent challenge that I had – it was work-related, not personal, but I truly did not know what to do.  It finally occurred to me to call on two friends who are also professional colleagues and to ask for help.  Needless to say, they came through and like the gentleman with autism, I felt that I had someone – in this case, two people – on my team. 

For some of us, and I certainly include myself in this group, it is difficult to ask for help.  We think that we should be able to figure everything out.  But sometimes we can’t.  And how wonderful when we find people who want to be on our team and help us accomplish what we cannot do alone.