Happiness #21 : A couple of days again

Slacking. Yes, well.  Here's a question: At what point in a friend's bad attitude is it ok to ask what's wrong without seeming to pry in something that's none of your business, or walk away? This is a dilemma for caring people, I should think.  You would like to help them if they need to talk about something and the attitude is just a need for attention manifesting itself in a different form.  But if they really don't want to talk about it, and have opted to take the less productive route of sulking (and I am guilty of this so I can understand) then really, you are just putting yourself on their blacklist for being nosy- when in fact you just want to care and help.  Maybe it's a case by case kind of thing but it seems to me like it's always better to err on the side of caring too much, than walking away and being misunderstood as not caring at all.  Who knows.

Today, I was told that I've made an impact in a friend's life.  This is not the first I have heard this but today, I decided to believe them.  Needless to say I was very honored for them to have come out and said, "Thanks for what you told me.  I really thought about it a lot and now I am definitely much happier taking the steps to change certain things about my life."  I hope I get to have such an impact on many more peoples' lives.
One of my bosses always says, "Don't get involved because you never know what's going on in their lives.  What will you do if they go and commit suicide after speaking to you because they didn't hear what they wanted to hear from you?"  I vehemently believe that no advice I would ever give to a willing listener would be in the direction of causing them to feel worse about their life.  I understand where the caution is coming from because regardless of good intentions, the constructive criticism may be just what the listener was dreading which in turn causes them to decide that they no longer want to live.  However, at that point I have to be realistic and ask if I was the cause of their decision or if I was just the last person to not tell them what they had hoped to hear in a long string of similar people.  Either way, it's an awful situation that I hope to avoid by always giving positive advice and making sure people know where it is coming from and with what intentions.
I choose to believe that caring and giving a damn will always trump minding your own business because if not for making connections, what is the point of life on an earth with so many different people and circumstances in which to meet them?  If not to make connections, why would we be put on an earth that is quickly being described as becoming over populated?  I think my boss is wrong.  I think not noticing what's right in front of your face, not addressing something or someone that needs help, not reaching out, is what drives people to suicide - not meaningful words of advice from someone who wants to help.