Sunday, May 15, 2016

After last night, I think we need to get Keeper to the coast sooner than later and see if she improves. We have found a place to stay in Salinas thanks to some good people on Ecuador Expats on fb. I am arranging transportation, and if all goes as planned we can leave tomorrow morning at 8 am.

Heidi mentioned this morning, the earthquake really shook our lives up…moving to Cuenca, Keeper getting sick, now heading back to the coast for a week, then potentially moving from Cuenca back to the coast full time. All of this under a month’s time.

I am really thankful for the support we have found here…from our friends we have met since arriving in Ecuador, to the new people we continue to connect with both in person and on fb. We also have the support of family and friends at home who encourage us when things get challenging and always have our backs.

All of this support has enabled us to find what we need, get where we want to go, and talk to those who we are in need of their help. So I think living for the first time in a foreign country, not speaking (but learning!) the language here, and not having our own transportation to get around this country, we get an A+ for managing it well so far!

I’m proud of my wife, my son, and myself for being capable survivors. I think it’s important to point out a good life lesson here: ask for help. I can’t stress this one enough.

There is a certain knowledge base that I have; a certain access to information that I know about and can use. I do not have all the knowledge, nor do I have access to all areas of information. When I ask for help, I potentially have access to a much larger base of knowledge.

I have access to the things in the “you don’t know what you don’t know” category. Asking for help from others increases my chances for success because I can access a larger basis of information to solve problems.

Obviously asking for help requires one important admission…I do not know everything. More specifically, I am acknowledging I do not have all the answers about “this”, whatever the “this” is. It can be humbling for sure.

How do you act in these situations? Do you ask for help? Do you “fake it”? Do you go it alone even if you lack adequate understanding and/or resources? Are you getting the results you want?

This is what I have come to believe is true. Most often people enjoy being in a position to help and are happy to do so. Asking someone for help increases their trust of you in that process. Getting help that enables you to be successful leaves a much more positive impression than going it alone and not succeeding.

I want to say thank you to all those who have helped me along the journey of “building my life”. I have learned a lot from you and when I choose to apply what I didn’t know before,  my life works better.

Chau.