Getting Help

Tonight, I attended an Eagle Court of Honor, which prompted me to think about how I had earned my own Eagle Scout rank. As I recall, I had cut it pretty close. In order to earn the Eagle Scout rank, you have to meet all of the qualifications and turn in all the paperwork before you turn eighteen. I almost missed that deadline. At the time, I felt so overwhelmed by how much I still had to do and how little time I still had to do it, I felt like giving up. But with my mother's encouragement, we pushed forward together and got everything done on time. Had it been just me, I don't think I would've earned my Eagle. I needed help. But I'm not ashamed of that, mostly because I'm confident that that's true for everybody.

No man is an island. Everyone had parents, older siblings, leaders, and/or other mentors who helped them along the way, without whom they wouldn't have been able to accomplish as much as they did, if anything. Heck, without our parents, none of us would even have been born. So I don't think any one person can take sole credit for their accomplishments. Everyone had help. In fact, getting help is part of the plan.

God knew that we wouldn't be able to make it successfully through Earth life all on our own. Beside the fact that we needed our parents' help to even get here, we would also need many guides and mentors to help us figure out the right way to live, and God knew that we would make many mistakes along the way, so we would need the help of the Savior as well. Seeking the Savior's help is the most important thing we can do in this lifetime. Perhaps that's the reason God made us all so dependent on each other: so we would learn how to seek help.

There is no shame in needing help. We all do. And there is no pride in accomplishing anything because we couldn't have done it alone. Of course, we can be proud of our contribution to the accomplishment, especially if we're directly responsible for most or all of it, but there are many others who, directly or indirectly, helped make it possible.

You can probably tie your shoelaces all on your own, but first someone taught you how, so each time you tie your shoelaces, that accomplishment, small as it is, is shared by you, the person who taught you how to tie your shoelaces, the person who taught them how to tie their shoelaces, and so on, plus the person who invented shoelaces, the person who invented shoes, the person who invented rope, the person who invented that knot, and everyone else who had any hand in helping out with any of those accomplishments. Any time anyone does anything, they have countless people to thank for helping make that possible.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is a great accomplishment. Achieving Eternal Life is an even greater one. No one in the history of existence has accomplished either of those tasks entirely on their own. Even Jesus had help at least a handful of times. So, if you need to get help, don't worry about it, and if you think you don't need help, don't be too sure. I think it's a universal truth that everyone has needed (and gotten) help with everything they've ever done.