the difficult person, presence

i liked this article, see link, for quite personal reasons.
there are two quotes here:

"When we can more fully recognize the pain of the other person, we are likely to be less caught up in our own story about being good helpers, and we are more likely to stay present with a compassionate heart."

and:

"But, most importantly, she said, I had been willing to put up with her when she was going through a really hard time. In other words, what had been most valuable was not my ability to understand what she said or any suggestions that I had made, but my willingness, discontinuous though it was, to be present with a heart that was open to her and to her pain."

link:

the difficult person