Sometimes I wonder what it feels like to be heard. I’m not talking acknowledging that my lips are moving up and down and that sounds are coming out. I’m talking hearing the actual sentences I say and thinking about them even after the conversation is over.

I can not even count how many times the words I have shared that are filled with sadness, anxiousness, and vulnerability go through some peoples ears and right out the other. The sense of loneliness I feel stems so much from the simple act of listening. I question, what good is talking to someone if they do not truly care about your words and/or assume you are just being over dramatic?

Being an emotional person is extremely difficult. Tack on having anxiety and depression and you have got one complex person. The positive feelings are a joy to share. Sure, you want to express love from the mountain tops and empathy bubbles over. More times than not tho the sadness and pain out weight any joyous feelings.

Every ounce of hurt or sadness I feel is personified. I am left with handling such feelings on my own. I mask them until I can get to the silence that is my room and let the tears stream down. The amounts of pain I feel that could be easily summed up into words are left to bubble inside of me, stirring in me causing an internal meltdown. This loneliness I feel is troubling and it sometimes feel like it truly is just me, myself, and I for the long haul. I have acknowledged that this trait makes me who I am. For those who are around it, at times it can causes them visible annoyance.

I can not change the traits that make up who I am. Of course, I can work on reigning them in and not let them take over my every thought and action. Everyday I am learning to find the balance between expressing how I feel and not letting said emotions take over what ever else might be happening.

This is when the act of listening should come into play. Lending an ear can be one of the most quintessential actions that can make or break an overly emotional person. Listening to someone does not equate to having to understand exactly what is being said or what someone is going thru. Simply holding onto their words and not criticizing them for the tears that come out after each sentence can mean so much.

To know that there is someone out there that will not judge or dismiss your words as just crying is one of the many things overly emotional people long for. The feeling of not having to go through something upsetting alone is one I know I pray on everyday.

To those who have an overly emotional person in their lives I encourage them to ask themselves this simple question: Am I really listening? There is a good chance that your ears could use some simple fine-tuning in order to really be there for someone who has struggled with their emotions on their own.

Now for those, like myself, who struggle with their emotions ask yourself this: Have I tried to reach out of my shell to someone who could possibly be that ear that takes in the words I say? This can be one of the hardest things to do. After being put down for long and used to keeping emotions to yourself, the idea of reaching out to someone can be extremely fear inducing. By trying to reach out tho you could eventually be doing yourself and the person you find who actually listens, a favor.