Is anyone listening?
by Jake McPherson
I have a problem. It’s a longstanding one, and it hurts. What hurts most is I honestly have no one I can talk to about it who will hear me.
When I talk to friends, they immediately start to tell me either how to fix it by doing something, or they tell me what I’m doing wrong in order that I can stop doing that so the problem will be fixed.
No one listens.
Everyone has their own ideas how things are supposed to move through our complex universe, and when I point out how my experience shows their ideas aren’t universally true, they get defensive.
It always comes out that I am doing something wrong, so I have a problem. Always.
I want to talk to someone who will listen to me without immediately reaching for their own ideas about how to fix my situation.
I want to be heard.
I want someone to listen to me.
Constant Havoc 
That’s a very good lesson I try to apply to myself, thanks.
I am that person for many friends, acquaintances and strangers. Sometimes listening is returned with advice, sometimes not. Maybe advice is just a sign that you are being listened to and your words are being processed through the listener’s own experiences, although arguing should not be an option. Anyway, I’m listening.
Thank you. A friend I’ve known for 30 years listened, and it was just what I needed. Other friends kept telling me what I was doing wrong, which I didn’t need to here mainly because they didn’t fully understand the situation. I found more than one friend to listen, by the way.
Glad that worked out 🙂