Asking for the help you need is a gift, so ask.

It is heartwarming for me to see people on social media actively trying to find ways to help during the current COVID-19 crisis. People asking if anyone needs help getting groceries, help with childcare, or if anyone knows anyone else that they can help.

It is also interesting to me that people will be very public with their willingness to help, but rarely do I see anyone being very public with their need for help.

If you need help to get through this current situation don’t be afraid to ask. If you need help other ways in life or at work don’t be afraid to ask. Remember that people really do want to help. At the core of most people’s beliefs is a desire to feel like they are making a difference in the world and for many this means helping others in some way.

I have had the privilege of helping people over the years with all kinds of things. When I am down on myself, wondering if my life has had any meaning, I think of my children first and then think of the people who I have made a difference for. Some of them don’t even know it was me that helped, but the point is not getting thanks, it is the knowing my life has meant something.

I bring up how important helping others is to me not to brag but to make the point that if you need help don’t be afraid to ask. If you need someone to talk to, to run an errand for you, to look after your kid(s) for a few hours, take a shift for you, help you with a home repair, teach you how to cook or sew, to unstuck the back door, to walk your dog cause you can’t get home from work, give you a lift to the store, help you find a job or a better job, whatever the case may be, don’t be afraid to ask.

There is no guarantee you will get help if you ask, but there is one thing for certain, if you don’t ask you won’t get help. If your need is genuine, you are doing others a favour by asking. That thing you need help with, that you can’t figure out, it’s a gift for someone else. You will be doing someone else a favour by letting them help you. Put it out there widely knowing you might be helping someone else by asking.

IBEX Payroll extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.

Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past, what we do in the present, and what we can do to continually honour the people whose lands and water we benefit from today.

This statement only acts as a first step in honouring the land we reside on and its peoples, and must be paired with education, understanding and informed action.