When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving me
advice, you have not done what I asked. When I ask you to listen to me and you
begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way, you are trampling on my
feelings. When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something
to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen! All I asked was that you listen, not talk or do - just hear me. Advice is cheap; 20 cents will get you both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same paper. I can do for myself; I'm not helpless - maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless. When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy. But when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince you and can get about the business of understanding what's behind this irrational feeling. When that's clear, the answers are obvious and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make more sense when we understand
what's behind them. Perhaps that's why prayer works, sometimes, for some people
- because God is mute, and He doesn't give advice or try to fix things. He just listens and lets you work
it out for yourself.
So, please listen and just hear me. And if you want to talk, wait a minute for
your turn - and I'll listen to you.
God bless your soul
1 comment:
Isn't life odd? When one cannot find someone who would just simply listen, to understand what one means, to hear what one feels, or to actually hear what one says...... Life is this way. People do mean well, but yes, it does make one feel helpless, like your brain is empty, and you are powerless. Temporarily, this may be so. But, many times, a Listener is all one needs. And that mends the cracks. Just one listener is all it takes. Just one. Thanks for sharing.
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