Just listen.

It’s funny. We all know that we can’t possibly know everything in the world there is to know, yet we act like we do. It’s so hard to just release our grasp on a certain concept and walk away from it, realizing that we just can’t understand.

I feel like this is partly why religion is so difficult; those who believe in G-d can’t really even understand G-d b/c He is beyond the kind of thing we’re used to seeing or thinking about. We’re constantly personifying Him, constantly saying things like, “I’m sure G-d is too busy to care,” etc.

Aside from that, though, is realizing that a situation that a person is going through could be completely beyond our understanding and/or experiences. Lately, I feel like the drama of life is totally overwhelming everyone I know all at once, and situations are sounding familiar, but just aren’t. I keep wanting to tell my friends that I know what they’re going through, but… do I?

I mean, you’d think I would know. I’m constantly telling my friends they don’t know how my mother is no matter what kind of strict parents they have; constantly falling short of an explanation for my heartbroken behavior that some friends feel I owe them, since they have either only been through crushes of lesser significance or have only fallen for guys who were just not so nice, to put it lightly. But it’s still so difficult to just relinquish understanding and give unrelenting support.

It completely sucks that we keep telling people we know what they’re going through, and then they eventually get so frustrated that they stop asking for your support, and then when all you want to give is your support instead of your “total understanding and sympathy”, they don’t want it anymore.

The truth is, no one wants to hear your examples of what you did and where you came from and why you’re such a hero. They just want you to listen and be there for them in their time of need. And for some reason, it’s just hard to do.

Probably because people just don’t know how to deal with others being sad, angry, or any other negative emotion. People panic and think that they just have to help and try, but to no avail. What we all kind of need to realize is that most people don’t want help, they just want your ear to listen, your shoulder to cry on. If they ask, “What do I do?”, then answer. If they say, “Can you help me?”, then do so. But if not, just listen.