From time-to-time, I like to write about the positive aspect of getting help and treatment when needed. From a lot of personal experience, and in working with clients for many years, I know that admitting problems and seeking assistance can be very difficult.

Sometimes people think that admitting they need help may mean something negative, or even an indication of an insolvable problem or character flaw. After all, we’re conditioned by our culture that we need to be perfect, even superhuman at times, and that admitting mistakes or problems can be signs of weakness or personal defects.

On the contrary, I have found that it is a brave and courageous person who admits they need help. Facing problems head on, instead of fearing or denying them, is a major step towards relieving the problem, or at least the symptoms. There is no shame in getting help. We all need help.

For example, when I weighed 400 pounds as a teenager, I was lead to believe that there was an underlying problem of will-power. I was taught by the mass-consumption culture that I needed to diet, or needed diet products. I believed this, and diet after diet failed. I couldn’t control my will, much less my food consumption.

After many failures, I finally reached out for help. I made an appointment with a doctor, a dietitian, and I also sought help from God. Ultimately, I got the true help I needed.

It took me too long to just reach out, admit I couldn’t handle my own problem, and seek assistance. In retrospect, I wish I had done that far earlier. I could have avoided what amounted to a long time of needless struggle and suffering. I had made my problems worse by waiting.

I wish I’d known that at the time. I wish someone had told me just to face the excess weight problem and get some intervention.

I hope that today, I can be that someone for you. A voice of impartiality, that recommends from experience that problems are more easily resolved when help is obtained.

– “Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer,” my book and movie on ancient meditations and prayers, are now available in bookstores, on the iTunes store (U.S. Only), and online. The movie also continues on Comcast and FiOS video-on-demand in the SnagFlms Collection.

Please visit our website, where you’ll find my book, DVD, CD of music and meditations, study guide, and free newsletters. www.Jesusprayermovie.com