The *expletive* holiday season! No doubt we’ll see stories of mayhem, never mind the background horrors of war, climate change, and things not yet known.  But I’d like to share something that happened to me this week while shopping.

I had gone into Walmart to just pick up a few things. However, I found, as I often do, a lot more to buy. I was holding my stuff, waiting in line, when I felt the items slipping from my grip.

A voice behind me then asked if I needed help. A woman with a shopping cart asked me if I wanted to put some of my items in her cart while we waited.

I hesitated. At the best of times I experience anxiety, especially social anxiety. I sometimes disengage from a conversation abruptly when the tension builds in me and politely but quickly leave. I might have declined the offer form the woman behind me in line. But my arms, which I had tortured with weight machines at Planet Fitness a short time before gave in. I thanked her and slid the items into her cart.

Hopefully we also accept help when we need it. Sometimes that’s harder due to our personal challenges. But it’s often there if we just turn around and listen to the voice behind us, next to us, or even within us.

Happy Holidays!