When you think of someone showing you support, what comes to mind? Is it someone telling you exactly what you want to hear? Someone taking control and steering you in the "right" direction? Or maybe someone just giving their opinion on the situation? When it gets down to it, effectively showing support may ultimately be up to the person receiving it, but I believe there is a general line not to stray too far away from.
A lot of the time, people think showing their support means to just say how they feel about the situation, maybe throw in a good luck, and leave it at that. In my experience, that in no way shows support. That's a listening ear, but are you really supporting when you do that? I feel as though a good way of showing support is to just try to understand where that person is coming from. That is the best first step in effectively showing support. Because support does NOT necessarily mean agreeing with what a person is doing or wants to do, understanding where they're coming from is the best way to show that you are still willing to support them. So yes, you can support someone without supporting what they're doing, but that's not to be confused with enabling. It's okay and probably best to voice your opinion if you think someone is really going down the wrong path, but if you take the time to understand what their motives are and where their head is, you may realize that it's not what you would do, but it's what they feel they have to do. Showing support is saying that you want this person to succeed through what their going through. Whether you agree or not, only voicing negative opinions about what they're not doing or how they could be doing more could only make things worse. It's great to try to help keep a person on track and keep them moving forward, but to only focus on what's not done instead of praising the accomplishments thus far is a good way to make them doubt their self and want to give up. If a person needs your support, it's obvious that they're not going through an easy situation on their own, so they would need nothing more than to just know that someone is there for them. Try your best to continue to understand not only what's going on with them but also where their mind is. A person may keep cool at all times on the outside, so you could never know the overwhelming, anxious, scared emotions they may feel from time to time if you don't just try to talk to them about how they feel about their situation..if you don't try to understand them. So before you begin to judge or criticize a person for their choices when your intentions are to show support, really understand what you may be doing to them if you don't first understand them.
A lot of the time, people think showing their support means to just say how they feel about the situation, maybe throw in a good luck, and leave it at that. In my experience, that in no way shows support. That's a listening ear, but are you really supporting when you do that? I feel as though a good way of showing support is to just try to understand where that person is coming from. That is the best first step in effectively showing support. Because support does NOT necessarily mean agreeing with what a person is doing or wants to do, understanding where they're coming from is the best way to show that you are still willing to support them. So yes, you can support someone without supporting what they're doing, but that's not to be confused with enabling. It's okay and probably best to voice your opinion if you think someone is really going down the wrong path, but if you take the time to understand what their motives are and where their head is, you may realize that it's not what you would do, but it's what they feel they have to do. Showing support is saying that you want this person to succeed through what their going through. Whether you agree or not, only voicing negative opinions about what they're not doing or how they could be doing more could only make things worse. It's great to try to help keep a person on track and keep them moving forward, but to only focus on what's not done instead of praising the accomplishments thus far is a good way to make them doubt their self and want to give up. If a person needs your support, it's obvious that they're not going through an easy situation on their own, so they would need nothing more than to just know that someone is there for them. Try your best to continue to understand not only what's going on with them but also where their mind is. A person may keep cool at all times on the outside, so you could never know the overwhelming, anxious, scared emotions they may feel from time to time if you don't just try to talk to them about how they feel about their situation..if you don't try to understand them. So before you begin to judge or criticize a person for their choices when your intentions are to show support, really understand what you may be doing to them if you don't first understand them.
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