Meeting Them There

October invites a closer look at how we care.

Many of us learned a simple guide.
Treat others as we would want to be treated.

It is a good beginning.
It also places us quietly at the center.

What comforts us may overwhelm another.
Advice that steadies us may feel like pressure to someone else.
Space that restores us may create distance for another.
Attention that makes us feel valued may feel intrusive to someone else.

Good intentions are real.
They are also incomplete.

Sometimes care offered with a full heart can still miss the person receiving it.
Sometimes what we offer serves our need to feel helpful more than their need to be helped.

Meeting someone where they are does not remove our agency.
Some wishes cannot be met.
Some offerings may cause harm.

Care begins with understanding another’s reality before deciding how to respond.

It may take attention.
It may take a question.
It may take the willingness to discover that what we intended as kindness was shaped by our own needs.

As October begins, consider:

• What has shaped your understanding of what care should look like?

• How do you respond when what someone needs differs from what you can responsibly offer?

• Where might your intention be clearer to you than the way it was received?

Care finds its footing where the other person stands.