Get better at asking for help.

I occasionally clear my mind enough during morning meditation so my mind is able to receive something I've buried deeply in my psyche.

Get better at asking for help, I heard at the turn of the year.

I've never been good at that, something my genius kid shares with me. Her first full sentence was, "I do it myself." She was maybe a year old when she said that.

So the first time I walked into Community Kitchen -- where you get a free hot meal, a cold meal, all without question -- I found it extra hard. But it's getting better each time. Just as someone reaches out with a dinner or a six pack or some money.

Sometimes receiving help is as difficult for me as asking for help, particularly money. I shudder writing that.

Another message that occurred to me on furlough -- give more. That's not mostly about stuff, of which I have little. It was about compliments, smiles, jokes, stories. So I've been working on that, even in the smallest of moments.

I do know I'm going to walk out of this with a bigger heart, open to the gratitude of my many communities and ready to give more.