Teenager’s Plea

PLEASE JUST LISTEN

When I ask you to just listen and you give me advice instead, you have not met my need.

When I ask you to listen and you tell me I shouldn’t feel that way, you trample on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen and you offer solutions, you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen! All I ask is that you listen, not tell me what to do.

I can do for myself. I’m not helpless- maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

Your solution might be right for you; I must find the one that works for me. I can only do this by accepting my feelings as real, trying to discover what lies behind those feelings, and then calmly looking for the best solution.

I don’t need advice. I do need you to reflect my feelings by listening, then helping me to see my own choices.

And then I’ll listen to you.