When does helping others becomes hazardous?

Just try to reflect on some emotions arose from an earlier encounter this morning.

When I tried to offer some emotional support to someone I met at church, I was given a lecture on how poor I was at the job of listening!

I apologized for the fact that my words hurt this person but it was never my intention to do so. When I asked this person not to be so serious about the whole thing, she gave an outburst of how she felt put down. Again I apologized for the unintended outcome. This person was even more upset this time, perhaps I apologized too quickly and she doubt my sincerity.

It seemed to me that she was really asking for trouble here. I very much wanted to stop at that point. I tried to lighten things up a little bit with a smile...
'It's not funny!' said this person with stern tone!

In this encounter, I learnt that I wasn't as good a listener as I thought I was. I also learnt that 'helping' others could be hazardous to one's health.