Doing the ask

Good Morning! One of the people I am mentoring is starting a new career in working with non-profit organizations because she wants to help people. She told me about the concept of "Do the ask." It got me thinking about all of the times when I want or need something and I talk myself out of expressing that to others. It comes up a lot around my hearing. When I am in groups where people are going around the circle and sharing, it is often very difficult for me to hear. When I ask, people are willing to speak up and check in with me to see if I can hear them. In yoga classes teachers sometimes speak softly and play music that is louder than their voices. If I suffer in silence I rarely experience the purpose of yoga which is to relax and connect body, mind and breath. When I am focused on my frustration of not being able to hear, I can make a yoga class into an exercise in optimal stress. Kind of defeats the purpose. When I have spoken to a yoga teacher about my hearing loss and/or asked to have the music turned down, all of them have been willing to accommodate me. If I don't "Do the ask"
how will anyone ever know what I want and need. I don't like to appear high maintenence. The truth is I am high maintenence. I am sensitive to a lot of smells and sounds and I have difficulty hearing. The trick is to let go of judging myself for that and accept that it means more opportunity to ask for what I want. Somehow that feels like the booby prize. So here we go with another FGO. To refresh your memory FGO stands for f----ing growth opportunity. The growth opportunity is to be big and ask. "I'm too embarrassed." Embarrassment is a rationale I am ready to let go of. I want to notice the embarrassment, comfort myself with the idea that it's OK to ask for what I want even if I am worried about what someone else might think of me. Pulling my energy back and playing small and not asking for what I want is part of the belief that I don't deserve to have what I want. How can I possibly get what I want if I don't even put it out there that I want it. There is no cosmic mind reader who picks up on my unstated needs and communicates them telepathically to the person I want to hear them. Of course there is no guaranty that when I get it out of my mouth and ask for what I want, that I will get what I want. It certainly does maximize the odds, though.
This is empowering to write about. Please send me a copy of your e-mail address so I can begin to create an e-mail list to communicate with you about this blog or other events I may be offering. I won't share it with anyone else. Thank you.
I have been thinking of asking for that and not asking. Doing the ask feels good. Where are you with "doing the ask". Is there something you'd like to ask for from someone that you'd be willing to stretch and communicate to them? Regardless of the results, the benefits of moving something from your heart to your throat and out of your mouth are ones you get to keep.