Let Them Sit With the Problem

When someone you mentor
gets stuck,
your instinct is to rescue them.

Resist it.

The moment you jump in
with the answer,
you take the struggle away —
and the struggle
was where the learning lived.

So let them sit in it.
Let the silence stretch
a little longer
than feels comfortable
for you.

Being stuck is not
a wound to heal.
It's the exact place
a person grows.

Your job isn't
to end the discomfort fast.
It's to stay with them
inside it,
and trust that they can
find their own way out.

Ask a question.
Then wait.
Don't fill the pause
just because
the pause is hard for you.

The answer you hand over
is forgotten by morning.

The answer they fought for,
sat with,
and finally reached themselves —
that one
becomes part of them.

You're not there
to remove the problem.

You're there
to make it safe
for them to wrestle it.

Let them sit.
Then watch what they find.

– Asael Shinder