I have created a match analogy to explain a very deep lesson of life. I am thankful I've learned this before I'm too old.
In the picture, the matches on the left were set on fire, but one match has been moved aside, it separates itself from the line and then the fire goes out. To those that can get the concept fast, you already know what it means. The power of stepping away.
Stepping away isn’t that straightforward all of the time though. People may think you are abandoning a heated family argument by backing away. Like withdrawing from a group chat you used to enjoy, and the perception is that you're being difficult. The space you’ve created in both scenarios is not always done with the intent of bringing people together, in fact, it may feel very lonely. Look at the match, it's the only one in that position
I’ve done this with a friend whom I thought constantly complained about things but never actually changed any of them. I thought I was doing myself a favour by not over engaging and was able to protect my energy from being depleted. We ended up just drifting apart, I’m still not sure if that was the right thing to do or Maybelline I gave up too soon.
What I do know is separating from someone when there is an actual fire or risk involved is different than separating from someone because they being human. If you choose to step away every time things start to get uncomfortable, you will find yourself standing alone in a lot of the gaps you created by stepping away. So the ideal this is to know when there's fire (figuratively speaking) and step away to save the whole situation.
The match analogy is very smart but in reality can be difficult to determine if you’re acting wisely or if you’re just avoiding your issues.
For the image I used Gemini to generate the art from the real one I saw online.
