Listen

Today was an important day.

Actually, not just today. The last few days, since my whole rant about the questioning and wondering and all.

I read something that responded to my question(s). I have run across the root of this phrase before, but never thought of the application in the way I did today. In our lives, there are many 'roads not taken', but we only get to choose one path. That coupled with a soccer game, some time alone, a surgery, and a confession, humbled me to the core, and yet opened my mind to a different way of thinking.

No, not everything is solved. I won't wake up tomorrow and stroll down easy street, but I feel my peace and confidence returning in tiny little bits. I have stopped performing and started listening more. Have you ever thought about just listening and how important that is? Maybe you have. Then you are way ahead of me. Oh I took many counseling and psychology courses about "active listening", but you know that is just psycho-babble, and when you have people in your life that care for you, when they need someone to listen, you need to open your mind to the possibility that it is all they really need. Not your opinion, not how that happened to you once too, not some other baloney that you're already thinking of before they even finish their sentence. You just listen, and maybe think about how what they are telling you figures in the context of what you know about them, about their life, and the things that matter to them.

Whew.

I have much to do. In fact, I have more to say, but am going to cut it short and focus on finishing my work.

hollyj