The Epidemic of the Unheard

2. There is one thing we can agree on. We long to be heard. In a world overtaken by never-ending media showcasing the latest on how to live your life, and the never-ceasing voices telling you how to be, act, and feel, you are left with one problem: who’s listening to you? We scroll, watch, and repeat so much that our ears and eyes are overstimulated and tired. We are done listening; in fact, we lose the ability to want to listen by default. But then there’s our feelings, when do they get a voice? Do we have to create content in the hope someone validates our feelings and hears us out? Doesn’t it seem like this is what social media has become? A cesspool of voices all demanding, hoping, screaming to be heard, “pick me.” When will you pick yourself? How can you truly understand others when you can’t understand or give yourself a chance to be heard? It’s not your fault we’ve gotten a little lost in this new technical world; the giants know how to reel you in to their world and to keep you in their grasp. Your scrolling is their benefit, your depression is their revenue, and your confusion becomes their opportunity.

3. Fill Your Cup First You can’t give from an empty space. You can’t, nor do you care to hear others, if you’re in despair to be heard. Your conversations will become a battle of trying to talk over each other, just to get one or two words out in hopes they pay attention. But you know what actually happens, they keep talking about themselves, because they too are lost in the voices of the unheard in this world. Isn’t it ironic that our technology was supposed to bring us together and help us be heard, yet it’s creating quite the opposite? So, what can you do about it? Fix yourself first. No, you aren’t broken, but yes, things must be fixed.

4. Listen to Heard Practice empathy. You know what it feels like when you feel unheard, then realize the other person is living in that world too. They want a safe place to talk, to be heard, and to be validated. Can you do for them what you wish others did for you? And how would you want others to listen to you? Would you want them to really pay attention, to be fully present to the raw part of you that is sharing your utmost vulnerability? Be what you want others to be for you. Find joy in seeing someone feel the loving space you created for their moment. But When Is It My Turn? You will find that as you listen to others and genuinely care about what they say, people will naturally gravitate to you to hear what you have to say. It opens the door for others to want to listen to you. It’s a unique and remarkable experience.

5. But there is a caveat: do not start listening in hopes of being heard. You can’t cheat the system; you need to really care to be someone’s safe space. And you will find that the questions you were carrying within you will somehow be answered by the voices you so lovingly became their lighthouse, beckoning them back home to themselves and their soul’s peace and purpose. Don’t be surprised that you will be overwhelmed with meaning and see life in a whole new light, with colors you never knew existed.

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