It can feel so utterly helpless to see a friend or family member in pain. You’d like to do something to help them out, take action, but sometimes, there’s simply nothing better you can do than just to be at peace with the pain of others. This will actually help us to be supportive of their pain, as psychologist Rick Hanson says. It is important to know that whatever the pain of another person happens to be, it is made up of many parts that are the result of a vast web of causes. When you recognize this truth, it is strangely calming. This recognition of the whole, Hanson says, “supports spacious mindfulness, staying in the present, taking life less personally – and a growing sense of peace.” And this can help you to support the other.
Being at peace with others’ pain will help us be supportive of their pain
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