Will You Choose the Courage to NOT Rescue Others?

 

Special note: "not rescuing" does not imply that rescuing is not helpful or appropriate as long as the rescuers at also taking care of themselves in the process.

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Often our biggest opportunity to choose courage is by not rescuing others.

 

Choosing not to rescue or protect others (especially loved ones) from the consequences of their actions (or lack of actions) or from the realities of life is often the most fearful choice of courage we can make.

 

In the name of love, in the name of caring, or in the name of avoiding guilt, we often rescue or protect others in a way that prevents them from discovering their own power and protects them from the opportunity to choose their own courage.

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Staying connected while not rescuing

 

To be willing to empathize with their pain and fear, to be supportive without rescuing, is often a supreme choice of courage.

 

We want so much to relieve the fear and discomfort of those we care about and thereby relieve ourselves of our fear for them.

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The list is endless

    

Whether it’s trying to protect someone from a broken heart or trying to protect them from the financial realities of earning a living (or spending less than their income), rescuing is often seen as a caring thing.

 

Yet, in our caring, how much do we disempower those we care most about? You may be training them to rely on "needing someone to help" them as a way to survive or get by in life.

 

To say “no” to the ones we care about is often the supreme choice of courage and caring.

 

Find at least one example in your life where you are avoiding the opportunity to choose courage by rescuing or protecting someone you love.

 

Honor yourself for choosing the courage to stop rescuing them.

 

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You can’t get rid of poverty by giving people money.

–P.J. O’Rourke (1947-, Political satirist)

 

Love is not love until love’s vulnerable.

–Theodore Roethke (1908-1963, American Poet)

 

Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully. When you dare to be vulnerable.

–Dr. Joyce Brothers (1927-, American psychologist, television and radio personality)