Sometimes we think we know what another is going through.

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Their pain, their suffering.

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So we want to help.

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To ease another's agony.

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And bring a little more relief to those who so desperately need it.

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Yet we do not really know what anyone else is really going through.

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We do not know their internal struggles.

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Their fears, dread, hopes, and dreams.

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And their history is far too detailed and complex to truly grasp all that they are dealing with.

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So how can we help?

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How can we show up in a way that best serves another person when they are in pain?

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The first and foremost thing is to recognize that we don't know what is really going on.

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For there is far more about the person that we don't know than we do know.

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And what they are currently dealing with may be far more involved than we imagined.

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When we come from a place of humility, then we can truly be with them.

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To hold the space for them to be vulnerable with us.

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And share our presence in a way that feels supportive to them.

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Without trying to fix anything.

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By not making them right, wrong, or anything in between.

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When we truly listen to them without expectation, we can hear them.

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Perhaps for the first time.

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In that moment of connection we can hold their pain as if it were our own.

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We can feel, perhaps just a little, of what it is like to be them.

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To see the world from their eyes.

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And now we can understand just a little of their experience.

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Now we can learn to love them for who they are, and what they have been through.

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Not out of pity or obligation.

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But from a place of empathy and connection.

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From that place of love and kindness, we will know just what to do.

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Just what to say.

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And how to hear what they have to say in a way that they truly need from us.

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Their pain brings us closer to them.

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The shared experience of life brings us all closer together.

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Only when we can truly open our ears and our hearts without expectation can we feel it.

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And they will feel it as well.

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Imagine what the world would be like if we could all do that for each other?

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Do you know someone in pain that you need to listen to?

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Can you approach them with out expectation and be truly present to them?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant

Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour