A Good Listener

I have heard your story before,

It sometimes feels as if I have lived my life alongside you.

Your tales have allowed us to rejoiced together in the ups of life and recoiled in the downs. Our conversations have been full of silent moments, a space neither of us felt the need to fill. But as we have grown together, I find the need to ask a question of myself.  

When was the last time I listened, with the intent of hearing what you were really trying to say?

I thought I was a good listener but it turns out that I was not really hearing. How could I have been when my sole goal was to produce a witty predetermined response.

Something to make you smile, something to make you forget the pain of this life, the pain I was not ready to accept.

And now, as the pressure of life reveals itself on the pores of your being; I wonder if I, the listener was a simple student, deaf to the wisdom of your teachings, blind to the truth of your experience.   

The path of our conversations felt familiar, and the truth is, I thought I was there for you. Yet on reflection that only the passing time and life experience can grant, it appears that I was missing the big picture. 

A beautiful image that was, in fact, an honest reflection of our false reality, framed differently for every conversation you attempted to paint for me, somewhat like an investment that would never grow, yet an investment that you would not give up on.

 Thank you for being patient, for seeing in me what I was, and in some ways, still am blind to. Thank you for showing me that the lesson I needed hid deep within the compassion you so beautifully shared.

To all the teachers of hard earn life lessons.

Thank you for your time and investment.