Can One Be Too Independent?

Is it possible to be too independent?

Independence according to Dictionary-dot-com means "freedom from control or influence of another or others". I've been single for awhile. My last relationship broke apart seven years ago. (OMG-!!! it's been that long already?). I've had two short-term dating situations since then, but for the most part it's been "soup for one" for quite some time. I'm an emotionally strong man. An idealist, I don't wear my heart on my sleeve nor am I a touchy-feelie kind of guy, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I contribute my independent nature to my Mom. She's my hero. My mom was a divorcee back when the word "divorce" was spoken in hushed voices. At thirty-two with four kids and no visible signs of income. My mom did what she could to make ends meet which included moving my siblings and I from the family home in New Jersey to my maternal grandparents house in Massachusetts. I was ten at that time. It was 1972 when my childhood ended at 10 years of age. I was (and still am) the eldest child and now there were new responsibilities I had to fulfill. My "sperm-donor" father was a wife-beating excuse of a man who worked as a cop for the New York Port Authority. He often renigged on his child support payments. And even had the audacity to try and "win-over" my siblings and I by becoming a sort of "Sears Wish-Book" to "provide" what our mom couldn't afford. I guess my mom had unwittingly placed her strong willed, self-reliant attitude onto her kids.

I have great difficulty asking anyone for help. I don't want to "burden" anyone. However, I am always at the ready to help others. This trait I can't explain.

So, it it possible to be too self-reliant?

Yes, yes it is. And I don't know how to not to be.