Then I found a friend with great ears who let me tell my story and never offered any advice nor told me how I should feel nor tried to put the best face on the problem. He listened and I got better. If we are going to help people, then we must learn how to just listen. They need us to Hang around, Hug them and Hush. They need our presence.
Nothing takes the place of being there.
They need our hugs, nothing feels better than a hug when we hurt. And most of all, they need us to hush. That is the hardest one of all. It is difficult to feel like we have done something if all we have done is listen. This leads us to say far too much and sometimes we say the wrong things.