Timing is Everything

Gloria Naylor once said 'Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.'
       I've been forced to master this art over the years, and I'd like to think that I've done a pretty good job up to this point, but it seems to have gotten much harder as of late. How am I supposed to respond when one of my best friends is making one of the biggest mistakes of their life? What am I supposed to do when they know that it's a bad choice, but refuses to act to change it because they are so comfortable with the routine of their life? I don't know how much longer I can simply sit by and be ready to pick up all the pieces. It hurts me to see them getting so hurt and not be able to do anything to remedy it.
       Some days I feel like I have to be the one that always has everything together because otherwise everything would just collapse around us. I have to be strong so that they will all have someone to fall back on. I can never let my pain show because then they couldn't come to me. That isn't an easy position to be in. It drives me insane most of the time, but I still do it. It seems like my obligation. Does that make any sense at all? Yeah.....I didn't think so.