Let Others Be

The following is an edited excerpt from the book, Living in the Flow: Reminders for a Supremely Happy Life that looks at giving people the space to be who they are, without the compulsive need to try and change or fix them.....

Have you ever noticed that, while we often have no clue about what to do with our own lives, quite magically, we believe that we know exactly what others should do with theirs? Often unsolicited, we offer our sage advice to anyone who will listen, and do so with an air of authority that belies our own confusion and uncertainty. If we are honest however, we can never know what's best for someone else, despite our belief to the contrary.

Seen from another perspective, we can always know that whatever a person is doing is exactly what they need to be doing. How can we know this? Because it's what they're doing! We can know that wherever they find themselves always holds the perfect lessons for their growth and evolution. From this way of looking, everything that happens is always unfolding perfectly for their highest good, no matter how we may judge it otherwise. And of course, this is true not only for others, but for ourselves as well.

When others know that they can trust us to listen without prejudice, it frees them to find the perfect solutions to the challenges they face and allows us to be there for them without our judgements getting in the way. It also allows us to listen with compassion, which is simply knowing that everyone (including ourselves) are doing the best that they can.

When we realize that we can never know what is best for someone else, and simply accept them as they are, we open a space for true relationship to flower, and the possibility for true love to unfold.