Day 150 of #LiveWell2017

It’s difficult to see someone you love suffering. Their pain is your pain. Their sadness is your sadness. If you’re anything like me, you just want to fix it, to make their suffering go away. But we can’t, because every person has to find their own happiness, their own way out of the pain and suffering. We can only be there to provide support, to listen, to love, to be open to them.

Helping a loved one through their pain is an opportunity to practice compassion, acceptance, and letting go. But, damn, it is hard. Suffering is an unavoidable part of being human. In fact, it is something we all experience, so it connects us all – those alive today and those who have suffered before us. Experiencing emotional pain challenges us to examine our lives and change, to move into a new way of being. Embracing the pain and suffering, knowing that it will pass, helps us get through it and find hope.

Some compassionate ways to help are to listen, offer a hug, ask if they want to talk, cry together, empathize, take a walk in nature, and sit quietly. We cannot fix their pain, but we can be there for them in a quiet, loving way and hope that they can see the light in the darkness.

Have you helped a loved one who was suffering? What did you do? How did you care for yourself in the process?