I Feel Unheard
I always make time for my friends and family. I am the one everyone turns to when they are in the hospital because I will sit with them as long as it takes for them to recover. I look at it as an obligation because I know that I wouldn't want to be alone if I were having to do a stint in the hospital. Beyond hospitalizations, I am the first one that gets called when someone needs a ride or just needs to talk about their day.
Unfortunately, this favor is never returned. Granted, I am a very private person and prefer to dealw ith my issues in private in lieu of letting someone else worry with me but there are still times when I just want to talk. Yet, no one listens. I've always *caught them at a bad time*, or they simply don't have the time for a conversation. I completely realize that everyone is busy, I'm not asking for them to drop everything to hear a sob story. What I ask is a sympathetic ear when they do have the time. No one is busy ALL the time. I suppose they expect me to have a million other people to turn to, when in truth, I don't have a single person who is willing to take a tiny bit of time out of their day. If I do somehow luckily get the *privilege* of taking up some of their time, I end up hearing more about them then talking about what I needed to get off my chest.
The only time I feel heard is when I bluntly let someone know my opinion on a situation. I have no idea why but people take my advice to heart. I have somehow wound up with the ability to shake people out of depression and anger. I'm not bragging about it, it's actually disturbing.
Me thinks I have some soul searching to do! Most of these friends, when I think about it, don't seem much like friends at all.
