Which Cross?
This earthly life is not without a cross... each person is called to carry his/her own cross..... but which cross are you carrying? your own or that of others?....... what can be the reason(s) that  can make us unknowingly carry the cross of others...... If the other person is not 'responsible' for his/her mistakes in life, if they are not accountable for their shortcomings  then it's someone else fault..... and that someone else can be you. You have heard  the story of the man who complained to God about how heavy his cross is until God agreed that he can change it. So the man went into the room where there were various crosses in height, weight and size. Having looked at all, he ended up taking back his own which he complained about. Therefore there must more than carrying your own cross. How big is the cross that you carry and under which circumstances would you ask for a different cross? At the end of the day each person has to carry his /her cross; the one who called us to take up the cross and follow Him, if we want to be his disciples also invites us to come to him if we are heavily burdened and He will give us rest. He invites us to learn from Him, for His yoke is easy and burden light. We need to remember this invitation when the burden becomes too heavy.... Anxieties, fears and guilty feelings of  mistakes from the past can be some of the underlying reasons for trying to carry the cross of our loved ones in addition to our own and that can make your own cross heavy. The Lord Jesus is the only person who carried the heaviest Cross ever, our individual ones are just a splinter of his. Therefore we can not carry the cross of the other.... each is called to carry his/her cross .......we can support each other in prayer for strength to be able to persevere through the ups/downs till the end.....Uniting your tiny cross to that of Jesus is a way of finding meaning, which can make your burden sweet..