Once there was woman who would get overwhelmed with her housework from time to time. She was industrious, and not lazy at all, but there were times when it just got away from her. Her husband was considerate and thoughtful, and so he surprised her one day with the news that he had hired someone to come in every Tuesday to clean for her, to help her keep on top of things.
She was very grateful, at least in terms of what she said, but he did not notice the look of reserved and quiet panic in her eyes.
The following Monday when he came home from work, he noticed that the house was sparkling and his wife exhausted. “What happened?” he asked. “Did she come a day early?”
“No,” she said. “She will be here at 8 tomorrow morning.”
“Why?” he said. “This place is spotless.”
His wife looked indignant. “You don’t expect that I would let someone else see the house in the condition it was in, do you?”
“Umm,” her husband said.
And so it is with everyone who won’t get help unless they don’t need it.