Thursday, February 17, 2011

just listen...

just listen. That's it. If someone around you needs to vent, get something off their chest, or just needs to verbally dump their anxieties and worries out loud - today you will just listen.

Listen, absorb, and empathize but don't offer opinions, advise or revelations about what you would have done. In a world full of back-seat drivers and endless points of view, we have forgotten how to just listen and be supportive. We are so ready to offer our advise and what we think is the correct way to handle something. I think we can all admit to doing this. But when we do it, we forget that we're not the one walking in those shoes, we're not made up of the same strengths/weaknesses/characteristics of that other person - so why do we always think that handling it the way "I would" will even work for that person.

So, for today I will just listen. The next time someone needs my ear, I will give them that and nothing else. I will keep my lips zipped and actually absorb what they are saying and more importantly what they are feeling - and I will give support without opinion.