Humans are funny creatures.

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They seem to be smart, logical creatures.

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Yet they still do odd things.

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Like stay in painful relationships.

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Or continue to allow themselves to be treated poorly.

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It can be very confusing for us.

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We can see it so clearly.

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For us, they should obviously get divorced, leave their job, move out of their home, or any number of other situations.

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Being on the outside of the situation gives us a certain clarity.

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Yet we may not be so clear when it comes to our own situations.

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When we are emotionally involved in a certain situation, it clouds our judgment and causes us to not be logical.

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And being logical in an emotional situation rarely happens, for good reason.

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We cannot be logical in matters that involved our hearts.

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Whether it is a matter of a relationship, a career or business, finances, or any other aspect of our lives.

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Exactly because it is OUR situation.

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When it is someone else's situation we do not have the same attachments, the same perspective, or the same emotions that they do.

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And while it may be obvious to us that the situation the person is in does not serve or is actually hurting them, the unknown of leaving may be far more scary and painful for them.

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To break free of a situation that they have been involved with for years or decades may take a lot more support than we realize.

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Leaving a relationship or a job that is abusive sounds like it is natural thing to do.

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And it is.

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Yet actually doing it when you are the person in the middle of the situation may be far more difficult than we realize.

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There may be many factors involved that we don't see.

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Ultimately, it is always up to the person themselves who is in the middle of it to make and act upon that decision.

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Only they know when they are truly ready.

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And only they can make that step forward to freedom.

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We can support and encourage them all we can.

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But we must respect their own decisions for we truly do not know how we would act if we were in that exact same situation.

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For the familiarity of the pain they are in may be far more comfortable than the pain of entering the unknown of something different.

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It requires a great deal of trust.

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A tremendous amount of faith in life.

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The best thing we can do as outsiders is to be there for them.

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To support their decisions, even when they don't make sense to us.

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This does not mean we have to enable them.

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It just means we show up with compassion and love for them, and support them in the ways we can when they finally do take that scary step forward.

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Is that not what we would want ourselves?

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Is there someone in your life who confuses you?

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Can you stand by them even when what they doesn't make sense to you?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant

Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour