A close friend of mine was having trouble. It seems they were beating themselves up for not being good enough. If you give it a little perspective though, they’re in a tough situation for anybody, so it’s no doubt that they were feeling a bit overwhelmed.

In times like that, I said, it’s perfectly fine to give yourself a break. Sometimes that’s all you can do. Sometimes things just get too much, and all you can do is take a step back and let it unfold. If getting involved only clouds your judgment, then you have permission to take a step back.

This is why patience is so important. We don’t know what sort of situations others are in, so when they make a call for help, you have to be patient and just let them take their time to adjust. We should aim to be patient even when people don’t make a call for help, because they may not know that that’s what they should be doing.

If someone doesn’t understand your need to take a step back, maybe you don’t need their permission.