OFTEN, WE TRY to carry someone else’s pain. Why? Because we genuinely care. It is rough to see someone you care for going through a difficult time. Yet you can be supportive, loving, and nurturing and still allow people to do what they need to do. (Sometimes, their experience is a lesson for us as well.)

We may have to go so far as to intervene to save someone’s life. But beyond getting a person to safety, we must allow each person to do his own healing.

The analogy I often think of is a wounded animal. An injured animal will hide itself in the brush and lick its wounds. If another like and loving animal of the forest comes along and sees its brother hurting, it will lay down quietly and wait for it to rest and heal. As the injured animal feels better, the helping animal will go and get food. Healing comes from moral support and physical closeness.

This may be all you need to do for a person who is struggling with pain. Be PA TI E N T. Allow that person to heal himself from within. It will ultimately be his source of strength.

The freedom to fail is vital if you’re going to succeed.
Most successful men fail time and time again,
and it is a measure of the strength.
that failure merely propels them
into some new attempt at success.
-MICHABL KORDA