Season Finale S2. E42. Off the Cuff: Give Space, Give Breathing Room

Natalie: 00:00:00

You won't always be on a 10 and that's okay.

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You know, sometimes we're talking to

people and maybe our energy's down or

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it's low and we're like, what's wrong?

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You're not acting like your normal self.

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But then they kind of don't

necessarily always lead with

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empathy or with understanding.

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And so it's one thing if you're

asking someone, Hey, I noticed that

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your energy's a little low or I

noticed that you seem a bit stressed.

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Like, are you okay?

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Do you want to take a break?

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Is there anything I can do to support you?

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I feel like those are the kinds

of questions that you can ask

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to really help the other person.

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Instead of taking it defensively

as, well, what's wrong?

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Did I do something?

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Is there an issue?

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You know, we just have to give

room for understanding that

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people's emotions are important.

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fluctuate and people's moods fluctuate

because of external experiences,

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internal experiences, time of the

year, how much rest they've had,

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if they've eaten for the day.

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Like there's just so much that can impact

one's energy levels and that output.

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And so I think sometimes too, it's

understanding, just giving space.

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And sometimes, you know, That person

might not need to or want to answer.

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We don't always need to know why

somebody's mood is off or something.

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Sometimes we can just say, you know what?

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Maybe they're having a tough day.

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Let me just give them a little bit

of grace because they might not even

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be aware that that's how they're

coming across or something like that.

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So I think that if we could just be

more empathetic and compassionate

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and just give people a little bit of

space, a little bit of breathing room.

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We don't always have to have high

energy interactions and we don't

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always have to have super positive

or super engaged conversations.

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It's okay sometimes for people

to just be a little out of it.

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That's a part of life.

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And so we need to give room and space

for people to just be sometimes,

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because honestly, there's a lot

that people are going through.

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There's a lot that people

carry on their shoulders.

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And sometimes we just don't have

visibility into their world.

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And they might not give you that

visibility and that is their right.

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And that is okay.

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So sometimes the best thing you can do is

just step back, give space and you offer

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what you think that person might need.

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So if you notice someone is a

little down, what can you do to

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bring more joy to them and to try

to cheer them up, to try to uplift

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them and try to bring up their mood?

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Or if they're feeling discouraged,

what can you do to try to

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empower them and encourage them?

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But they're feeling scared.

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What can you do to try to remove

fear and help them feel hope, right?

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So how can you be the answer or maybe

not the full answer, but how can you

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contribute and help close that gap

and help fill that deficit of what

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that other person might need without

you pointing out that they need it?

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Because sometimes that's the worst, right?

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Sometimes it's like you're angry.

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And then someone says, why are you angry?

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Or, Oh, you're, you're so angry.

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And it's like, I already know that.

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what somebody else really needs is to

kind of tell you a joke so that you stop

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being angry and you start laughing again.

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So, it's another way to think

about the problem, but we don't

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really come from that angle.

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We come from the angle of the person

with the problem needs to fix the problem.

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And, and honestly, if you just give

them enough time, they probably will.

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So, that's the message.

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Give space.

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Until next time, continue to serve

yourself, your loved ones, and

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your communities from a full cup.