Listen

I think one of the world's or society's biggest problem these days is that nobody listens anymore. Everybody hears something, but nobody listens. This is probably why psychotherapists/psychiatrists are getting popular these days. It hasn't catchup on this side of the world yet but I think soon, soon enough. By the way, influenced after half-way reading Dr M Scott Peck's "The Road Less Travelled", I feel compelled of getting myself into one too.

Back to the main topic, when was the last time we listen to out friend/colleague/family without being ready to jump to reply/offer advice/wishing they would just go away? I think there are a lot of instances where people actually just want to be listened out and they would and could solve their problems themselves. Instead, we were so ready to jump to give our 2 cents worth of advice/experience that we made the whole situation worse. Firstly, the speaker would not have been able to release his/her venting. Secondly, if the advice is not what the person is looking for or not up to his/her experience, a debate would break-out or a bigger confusion follows. Come to think of it, when did we ever really understand the other person's situation before we open our own gaps?

So friends, starting from now on, can't we just sit down, smile and listen when somebody needs our ears? Then we response accordingly. =)