Listen

When I ask you to listen to me

and you start giving advice

you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me

and you begin to tell me why I shouln'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 problems,

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; a quarter will get you both Dear Abby and

Billy Graham in the same newspaper.

And 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 weakness.

But when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel,

no matter how irrational, then I quit trying to convince you

and get about the business of understanding what's behind

this irrational feeling.

And when that's clear, the answers are obvious and I don't

need advice.

Irrational feelings make 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 may just listen and let 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 will listen to you.

-------------------------- Anonymous