Skeletons in the Closet

I watched Compass yesterday (something I do not normally do) and found it really interesting.  It was about “confession.”  It seems there are a number of traditions related to this.  There is the Catholic tradition of confessing to a priest, the Protestant tradition of confessing to an “unseen Being”, confessing at counselling, and another they showed in this program that I was unaware of.
Apparently there are people that just hold up a sign that says “Free Listening.”  Many people approach them, and once there is a sense of trust, the people unburden their soul.  I really liked that.
The program also said something I said a couple of weeks ago (it was gratifying that others think the same.)  I have only found this out because of recent experience.  They said most people don’t want an answer from us, they just want to know they are heard.  We can be so quick to rush in with what we perceive as the answer.  It seems to me giving our opinion is not a right – it is earned.  So often I have found a person will ask your thoughts only after they have exhausted what they felt they needed to say.  “We need to listen to hear, and not listen to speak” (it is something I am not good at, and does not seem to come naturally, but I am finding “practice” helps.)
Lately I have been expressing my thoughts in a casual or almost dismissive way.  It is so up to someone else whether they make the thought their own.  I guess it is why one of my favourite sayings is “eat the worms and spit out the germs.”  If it can be used great, and if not, treat it like it has no value at all.
It seems everyone has skeletons in the closet – things we are ashamed of and will only confide about with certain people.  We all have them I think.  They can be big things or little things (whatever they are, they are big to us.) In all cases, there is a sense of remorse and a desire to change our past and ourselves.
Someone said on tv the other night that a crisis will not change behaviour.  Unless there has been a change before the crisis, then the crisis will not necessarily change anything.  That has been my experience, and what I have seen.
It seems none of us need to be told right and wrong, as everyone I have met has a sense of it. A desire to change anything, must come from within, and cannot be forced on someone, if the change is to be genuine.
We are all making our own way, and need help and acceptance from one another. Again the words of a song stay with me “I’m not one who’s got it all in place telling you what you should do, no I’m just one old hungry beggar showing you where I found food.” If something is useful, great.  If not, get rid of it.
In all cases it seems, when it is needed, confession is good for us.