How to save your friends - by Kasra - Bits of Wonder

Not enough people appreciate the art of skillful listening. This is unfortunate because we would all have a much easier time dealing with our problems if we were surrounded with good listeners. The advice below is what I’ve learned from my experience coaching and just helping my friends with their problems. It’s most useful for thorny personal problems like “my partner is not giving me enough attention” or “I’m feeling undervalued at work” or “I keep getting distracted from the projects I care about.” A friend who recently went through a breakup, and had many conversations with me about the breakup, said: “unlike all my other friends, you never once said the wrong thing.” So while no prescriptions for human interaction are universal, I believe the advice below can, when used in the right context, make you a more effective listener. I get it, you so badly want to solve your friend’s problem. If only they meditated more, or they broke up with their partner, or they confronted their tires

Not enough people appreciate the art of skillful listening. This is unfortunate because we would all have a much easier time dealing with our problems if we were surrounded with good listeners. The advice below is what I’ve learned from my experience coaching and just helping my friends with their problems. It’s most useful for thorny personal problems like “my partner is not giving me enough attention” or “I’m feeling undervalued at work” or “I keep getting distracted from the projects I care about.” A friend who recently went through a breakup, and had many conversations with me about the br