One thing I struggle with is my older beliefs about being uncaring and cold hearted. These old definitions are running smack dab into my current understanding of energy and I waver back and forth between the two.
My older idea of being a good friend or being sympathetic is that when someone else is angry and telling me about their situation I need to get angry with them. If someone is upset I need to be upset with them. If someone is in pain I need to also feel that pain. I need to feel what they’re feeling otherwise I don’t really “get it” and am not being a caring person.
But is this really helpful? Intellectually, consciously, I no longer think it is, but old beliefs die hard.
I remember an analogy that Abraham Hicks shared that if you’re walking along a mountain path and lose your footing you would want your friend who’s there with you to have stable footing and help steady you.
This analogy always stayed with me. And just now I took it a little bit further. If my friend fell off that same mountain path, slid, and landed on a small ledge 10 feet below, what would be the most helpful?
Should I also fling myself off the path and land on the same ledge with them so I could truly understand their fear and panic? That’s not helpful.
Should I fall to my knees in fear, and look down at them, wailing and crying that I love them and I’m scared too? That’s not helpful.
Should I yell down that they should’ve been paying more attention and if they followed my advice from earlier they wouldn’t be in their current predicament? That’s not helpful.
No, in this situation it’s clear what would best serve my friend. First, it’s for me to stay calm. Then, I could either go get help, or assist them myself. I could tie one end of a rope and throw the other end down to them. It would then be up to them to grab the rope and climb up, but I would be at the top making sure the rope stayed secure, using my vantage point to help them find footholds to aid their ascent, and encouraging them to climb higher.