Being Heard

​Being Heard
I say it all the time but really believe it.  “There are many voices in the world, and none is without significance.
Goodness knows why but I was thinking of a scene at table tennis years ago.  A fella was upset.  I do not remember the reason why.  I intercepted him before he reached the car park.  He unloaded.  I listened.  He said, “if you had not have come, I was not coming back.”  He came back.
I do not know how often I hear it.  People say, “I don’t care if what I have to say is taken on board or not, I just want to be heard.”
A group of people in a public place held up placards which read “a listening ear.”  People sat down and just had a chat.  It was not like people were selling anything.  They just gave an opportunity for people to express themselves.  The topic did not matter.  It was the chance to be heard.
I reckon that is the strength of the “are you ok?” movement.  Some do it wrong but really in some ways it does not matter.  However it happens, people are given the opportunity to express themselves.  When the timing is right it can change a destiny.
I remember one fella saying to me how good it felt to say what he had said.  He said that several times.  I was flabbergasted.  I was just listening.  He needed to say what he was saying.  It was all about him and not me.
Many situations end badly because someone feels like they are not being heard.  It is not a listening to speak thing, but a listening to hear.  It is incredible the sense of relief people have when they get a genuine opportunity to share something that may have been bottled up.
Many years ago I was accused of being monk like.  It was like I had taken a vow of silence.  I know there are many times I just listen.  Everyone needs to be heard.  Everyone has a story.  Everyone has things that are important to them.
Merril was a nurse but took the opportunity to listen.  She looked after one elderly lady who shared how she had been in India and given a present from Gandhi.  It was only by listening she knew.
Sometimes what is held to is destructive.  It is by being given the opportunity to express it that things that pull down can often be seen for what they are.  Many go on in a mistaken belief because they never get an opportunity to express what it is they are thinking about.  It is amazing how often just expressing something causes someone to reconsider.
It is like “if you never ever go, you’ll never ever know.”  If someone never ever gets the opportunity to be heard, they will never ever know what may be a different but better way.
Listening may or may not reap dividends for me , but it is sure to reap dividends for the one speaking and perhaps experiencing something novel – being heard.