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Please Listen

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 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
not 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
~Author Unknown