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
And you
begin to tell me why I shouldn'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
problem,
You have
failed me, strange as that may seem. 
Listen!
All I
asked was that you listen,
Not to
talk or do just hear me.
Advice
is cheap: 25 cents 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, inadequacy
and dependency.
But,
when you accept as a simple fact that I do
feel
What I
feel, no matter how irrational,
Then I
can quit trying to convince you,
And I
can 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/she doesn't give advice
or
Try to
fix things.
"They"
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'll
listen to you.
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