Things You'll Need:
- yourself
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Step 1
Pray for the person you want to lift up. Prayer changes things.
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Step 2
Love them. Love them in a practical sense but helping bear their burdens a little bit to help them through.
Be careful not to do this too much. Helping too much actually decreases a loved ones ability to help themselves.
Helping too much, and where they are perfectly capable of helping themselves sends the message that they are not capable enought to take care of themselves and is actually very discouraging.
Trust yourself to know where and when appropriate actions on your part will help, and not lead the other person to believe they can't do things to make their own life, and the lives of others, better too. -
Step 3
Reinforce the positive.
Know that there are always more solutions than problems. Keeping this knowledge in the front of your mind will help your friend remember this same truth. -
Step 4
Listen. Be respectful. Don't enable.
If you go along with thinking any words like "oh yes, you are sunk, and there is no way out of this... or yes, you are such a helpless victim inthis situation.." Are you really helping? -
Step 5
Be a happy, healthy positive person yourself so you will be a positive influence on others also.
You can't give what you don't actually have to give.
Everyone can on some level smell a phony. You will always eminate on some level what you are secretly thinking. So keep your thoughts good. -
Step 6
Be conscious of your helping motivations.
Are they really for the other person or so that you can feel important?
When there are vain or self important/self serving underlying motivations in 'helping' your 'help' ends up not being really all that helpful because it is not motivated by simple and sincere good will for that other person. -
Step 7
Protect your own goodness so you will have more goodness to share with others.
Comments
GreenMomma said
on 10/31/2009 Your opening picture just lifted up this friend...I love it!