Glasgow Daily Times, Glasgow, KY

Features

August 27, 2009

Listening is a simple gift

GLASGOW — Years ago I helped a friend move a piano, and my back was strained in ways it still remembers. This was an old piano that seemed as heavy and awkward as a lost baby elephant being returned to a carnival. Still, I struggled and sweated, and the piano was moved from one location to provide music in another.

Because I've been grateful for the kind help I've received from time to time, I've tried to help friends in a variety of needs. Usually it has been my pleasure, as well as my duty, to offer assistance. I'll confess, though, that I didn't enjoy much of that day when I stripped the old paper off the living room wall in a house that was being renovated.

Thankfully, there are a number of ways we can help our friends. Many are quite simple. It may be that remarks inside a nice card will do the job. Or a hug or a smile may be needed. The sharing of laughter if often helpful.

And then, there is the help that listening provides.

istening is a gift we can give friends who have a need to talk. It's quite simple: just offer body language that says "I'm listening," and the friend is freed to unpack the luggage in his mind.

Listening takes us away from ourselves. We open our hearts as we open our ears. To be sought out to listen is an honor we should not take lightly. One responsibility of listening to someone else's concerns is to refrain from being preoccupied with our own.

Once I visited a friend who lives so far from here that you can't drive there during the light of one day's time. I only see him infrequently, yet we always enjoy connecting and catching up with one another's lives.

During this particular visit, our conversation was rather one-sided with most of the talking coming from his side. It was obvious that he had been carrying around a lot of luggage. It certainly needed sorting through. So, I respectfully listened. My few small comments were limited to the "Uh-huh" variety. After his long monologue, I felt my help during our meeting had been rather insignificant.

Quite often listening may involve evaluating and providing thoughtful advice. Sometimes even our serious judgment may be sought. But on this occasion, there were no demands made beyond my acknowledgement of listening.

Still, he gushed with thanks for my help.

How had I helped?

Sometimes an individual may listen in the non-noise of silence to that introspective voice and find his own help. At other times, a different method may be necessary. This time, my friend had needed an excuse to hear aloud what he had been leaving unheard. I had given him that excuse.

His conversation had amounted to out loud thinking. He was able to hear himself and better evaluate his situation. By articulating his dilemma, he had gained insight from his very own logic.

He was grateful, and I was glad to have helped. I was also glad it hadn't involved heavy lifting or tedious scraping.

Text Only
Features
AP Video
US Airways: Diverted Flight Has 'Landed Safely' A Few Odd Business Sparks but Europe Gloomy Revived Focus on Regulation After JPMorgan Loss Gerard Butler: the Good, the Bad and the Cannes At Least 25 Dead in India Train Collision Raw Video: Private Rocket Blasts Off Boy to Rescuers: 'Do You Have a Plan?' Doctors and Devotees Debate Barefoot Running Blacks Seek to Find Their Own Missing Houston Museum Unveils $85 Million Dinosaur Hall Chicago Police: 90 Arrested in NATO Protests Ex-Rutgers Student Gets 30 Days in Webcam Case Obama Sees Inspiration in Joplin Graduates Raw Video: Man Saved After Niagara Falls Plunge NATO: Afghan Exit 'Irreversible' Catholic Groups Sue Over Contraception Mandate 4 Arrested After Man's Beating at Dodger Stadium Investors Slap Facebook 11 Percent Lower Raw Video: Dramatic 270-Foot Waterfall Rescue Fingers Do the Fighting at Wrestling Tourney
Facebook
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Popular Searches
Powered by Local.com
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Seasonal Content