Lend a listening ear.

 The Narrator in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club (I'm sure you've all noticed by now that this is one of my favorite novels by my favorite author) said he enjoyed attending support groups because “People listened instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.” It's a good feeling, knowing someone's listening to you. Not just hearing and throwing in some “yeah”s and “I understand”s in the appropriate places, but truly listening when someone wants an ear. Not waiting for their turn to talk. Something I take pride in is my ability to listen.

But one thing I've noticed lately is the lack of listening. I don't just mean someone waiting for an opportunity to tell their story. I mean the people would rather hear what they want to hear to validate their argument. And don't even try talking logically with them, they'll just ignore that, too.

And then there's the people who would rather believe they're right despite any evidence to prove otherwise. For example, you go into the doctor's office with immense chest pain. They tell you it's just anxiety, despite the fact that you've gone through anxiety and know this is not how it feels. They don't care. They see you have a history with anxiety, so that's the answer. Well, they haven't been listening to your body (or to your words) and you have, so I'd say it's time to go to a new doctor.

I got a bit off topic (though it's still the same general thought).Going back to my original point, though, people will pretend they want to listen, but really they're wondering when you're going to shut up so they can tell you about what an awesome time they had last night. If people would try to listen more, some people wouldn't need thousands of dollars to pay somebody to listen to them. Some people wouldn't have to keep all of their emotions bottled up deep inside because no one will listen.

If everyone just took the time to stop and care about that other person in the conversation, imagine how much we could do.