Sometimes love means staying quiet
Have you ever sat with someone while they were breaking into a thousand pieces?
Maybe it’s from the sudden loss of their person.
The ending of a job they worked so hard for allowed them to walk away without a second glance.
It can be they have been struggling for too long to keep their life as normal as possible in appearances.
Perhaps the pressure of being there for everyone else, and having few people show up to support them finally got to be too much.
What do you do?
How can you help?
What is your role in this situation?
What if I told you the most critical thing you can do for them is this?
DO NOTHING, SAY NOTHING
Instead, be present, be quiet, and be available
When someone is having a hard time, they don’t need your advice, they don’t want your false cheer and they can’t tolerate empty words.
Listen to hear, allow your heart to open with empathy not sympathy, loosen your grip on the need to fill silence with words. Be willing to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
If you truly care for people, you will allow them to fall apart, carefully pick up each fallen part, and place each shard into a basket to decide what they wish to keep.
The greatest gift you can give is not your words of wisdom but your silent, open heart.
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