In 2.5 Feet by Andie Woo

2.5 feet may seem like a bit of a distance at first, but in reality, it’s only about two rulers and a half. In a way, this could be how people perceive asking for help. It can seem so close, yet so far out of reach. 2.5 feet marks the average step length, according to Daniel Bubnis and writer Scott Frothingham from Healthline. The title, “In 2.5 feet”, comes from the fact that all it can take to ask for help is one step. 

Asking for help is harder than it looks. Maybe with the right time, the right words, and a dash of courage, it would be easier, but what if people didn’t have any of these? Answer to that question: they’d keep that question at the back of their minds. With quarantine caging us in our homes, one of the few ways we can communicate with others is through social media. One can be more confident talking on social media than in real life or vice versa, yet still, every one of us gets those tiny moments of fear.  

A loved one is our anchor, a stand we can hold on to through all the loud static in our lives. We know they are there for us, but even if we know for a fact that they would listen and try their best to help, it's terrifying. All the pressure, stress -- everything, really. Some reasons why we get scared could be: thinking we ask too many questions, thinking we ask for too much, thinking we would seem incompetent in one's eye, feeling like we would burden others, and many more. 

The thing is, the act of asking can also help us build relationships. It takes one to question and one to answer. Asking for help shows the other that we are allowing them to enter our world -- our life.  You allow them to feel proud and accomplished once they answer your call.  Without that important step, there would always feel like something is missing. 

Asking is a needed process in life. It can help answer a question you've had for a long time, help you figure out how to deal with a situation, help relationships; it can help you grow. What would happen without doing it? Nothing, literally. You'd feel stuck in exactly the same position as you were in once before. All it takes is one step, so don't be afraid to go that 2.5 feet.

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Words by Andie Woo, Copy Edited by Jacob Tambunting

Photo by Macy Castañeda Lee