Tulips or Eggshells?

Have you ever noticed that there are times in your life that you can look at another person, what they're doing, a situation they're involved in, and just think to yourself, "Oh my god!  They're being deceived!"  Or taken advantage of, or any number of other things that may be going on that aren't necessarily good.  Now, keep in mind, I'm not talking life or death here, like running into heavy traffic, or anything like that.  I'm talking personal, emotional, kind of things.  What do you do?  I think most people would just keep to themselves and not worry about it too much, especially if it's someone who is a complete stranger to you.  But what if it's someone you care about?  Well, that's when it gets tricky.  You're faced with a choice of whether or not to warn them, and hope they'll take evasive action.  But is that really our job?  I know personally, I have a couple of very close friends..... they've seen me heading towards disaster a few times.  That couldn't have been easy for them to watch.  But they chose the path of tough love.  They let me go ahead and do what I was doing, knowing full well what the outcome would be.  Almost sounds horrible, doesn't it?  How could they possibly let me do that?  Well, honestly, I'm glad they did.  If they would have told me, then more than likely, being the stubborn Taurus that I am, I would have just kept on any way with the intention of trying to prove them wrong.  But them letting me follow my own path, allowed me to get hurt, yes.  But it also allowed me to learn something that I probably wouldn't have, otherwise.  And after it was all said and done, they told me they saw it coming.  I couldn't get mad at them, though, because I knew exactly why they did what they did.  I understood that.  They were right.  Now, I ask for their advice, and take heed of what they say. They're pretty smart people.  Me, on the other hand, for some reason, I feel the need to protect everybody.  Don't know why.  I've always been that way.  I see something coming, and I have to open my big yap.  Well, when I can prove it, anyway.  When it's just a feeling, I've always second-guessed myself.  I shouldn't do that, because I have learned over the years that my intuition is pretty dead on.  But the ones I can prove.... let me give you an example.  Several years ago, there was a woman that was trying to break up my (now ex) husband and myself.  She was ruthless.  One evening, I was in a public restroom when she walked in.  She didn't know I was in there.  She was talking to someone on the phone, telling them exactly what she was doing and how she was going about it.  So I went and talked to my husband.  Well, that didn't go too well.  He was convinced that I was just being jealous and controlling, and trying to tell him who he could and could not talk to.  Even though, in the long run, I was proven correct, he never let go of that, and still to this day, brings it up from time to time.  Now, I am, once again, being faced with watching someone I care deeply about heading towards a very dangerous emotional cliff.  I'm watching as this person is getting sucked into something that seems to be wonderful, and yet something inside me can clearly see where trouble is brewing.  I could say something.  I could drop hints here and there.  But as hard as it is for me,  I have to let go and trust that my friend will be ok.  I'll be there, waiting to help pick up the pieces, and help him through it when it all goes down.  I love him dearly, and don't want to see him get hurt.  But sometimes, people have to learn for themselves, no matter how painful it is to watch.  I just hope that when that time comes, as I am positive that it will, he will understand my current silence on the matter.  It's a delicate dance.  Do we tiptoe through the tulips?  Or do we walk on eggshells?  Sometimes, it may be a little bit of both.