It is very difficult to see a loved one fall but sometimes if you don’t let them hit the floor they may never recover. It’s sad to say but ” tough love ” might be the only love in the long run that shows compassion. We can keep holding them up but then we only enable them to continue a behavior that will continue to get worse. So how do we determine when to allow someone to fall? I believe these hints (below) might be helpful.
(1) Is it a behavior that this individual continues to perform even though it didn’t result in a positive outcome?
(2) Have you continued to offer them solutions that they have ignored?
(3) Have others around them helped them from falling by catching them in the past?
(4) Once they fall will they have an avenue to get up in loving hands if they decide to make a change.