LISTEN TO ME

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
I shouldn't feel that
way,
you are tramplin 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 my
seem.
Listen! All I ask is that
you listen.
Don't talk or do--just
hear me.
Advice is cheap; 20
cents will get
you both Dear Abby
and Billy Graham
in the same
newspaper.
And I can do for
myself; I am 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 feel what I feel,
no matter how
irrational,
then I can stop trying
to convince
you and get about this
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.
God 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
will listen to you

Author Unknown