Some people complain of helplessness, insisting that they don’t take better care of themselves because they don’t know how. Often, there are obvious contradictions in their claimed handicaps. For example, people who claim that they simply can’t express themselves well in words may be far more articulate in describing their deficiencies than in speaking of their accomplishments.

Underlying these disparities is the fear that if they demonstrate just once how well they can manage on their own, the people they depend on will abandon them forever, leaving them to fend for themselves, no matter how difficult their circumstances.

Just because you can be self-sufficient some of the time does not mean that no one will help you when you aren’t.