Listening

Now suppose you have been with someone you are proud to call a friend.
You have spent some time together, and you had a lot of things to talk about.
Suppose some of it was very painful for you.
But you made yourself talk it out.
The friend didn't have much to say, either during your talk or at the end. Perfectly all right; you didn't need that.
Just talking it out with him made you feel a whole lot better.
Good for you! Now that you feel better.
Here is something for you to think over. Why could you talk like that?
Because he was your friend? True. But it was more than that.
You could talk because he really listened!
So there is more to conversation than just talking, isn't there?
If you are really going to talk, then somebody has to be there to listen.
And real listening is neither easy nor common.