I’m feeling really happy right now because I just had one of those sticky conversations with a friend who’s in crisis, and I knew what to say—and what not say. My books sometimes focus on sticky items in relationships, so often in them (and in real life), there’s the question of how to react when someone shares their unhappy news with you. What do you say to someone who’s going through a divorce? What do you say when someone’s learned they have cancer? What do you say when someone’s kid keeps acting out time and time again?
And how do you know you’ve said the right thing? Because there’s peace. Because you haven’t told them what to do or how to feel. You’ve just listened and encouraged them, telling them you’re there for them. Maybe you’ve shared an anecdote about how something worked out for someone else in a similar situation.
We’re all here to support each other, and if we’re lucky enough, we’ll have a coterie of people who trust us enough to talk to us about their “stickiest” situations. And if we’re truly present to them and give them the freedom they need to feel empowered and make the best decisions for themselves, we are saying the right thing to them.
We’ve all come through another holiday, surrounded by family and other people with whom we sometimes have these “sticky” conversations. How did you fare? Was there enough love and space to say what you needed to say or simply accept things the way they are, knowing they can change?
Let’s all listen a little more to our inner wisdom and give ourselves a pat on the back when we truly feel, down to our deepest self, that we knew exactly what to say. And we said it.