When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving advice
you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldnt 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 problems,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen! All I ask is that you listen.
Not talk or do - just hear me.

I can do for myself; Im 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 weakness.

But when you accept as a simple fact that I do what I feel,
no matter how irrational, then I stop trying to convince you and can
get about the business of understanding whats behind this
irrational feeling.
And when thats clear, the answers are obvious and I dont need advice.

So, please listen and hear me, and if you want to talk, wait,?
And I will listen to you.