YOU NEVER LISTEN

INTRODUCTION: YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE CONNECTING. YOU WERE JUST TALKING.

You think you’ve had conversations.

You think you’ve listened, understood, responded.

But what you’ve really done —

is rehearse your own mind

in front of someone else's face.

You’ve never truly heard another person.

You’ve only heard your thoughts about them.

Your fears, your interpretations, your memories.

Not their words.

Not their feelings.

Not their reality.

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SECTION 1: YOU WEREN’T LISTENING — YOU WERE WAITING

You nod while someone speaks,

but inside, you’re just waiting for your turn.

You plan your reply before they finish.

You hear the tone, not the pain.

You catch the keywords, not the context.

When someone says, “I feel alone,”

you rush to explain.

When someone says, “You hurt me,”

you defend.

When someone says, “I need space,”

you panic.

You never hold what they say.

You push it into your own meaning,

your own story,

your own noise.

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SECTION 2: YOU TRANSLATE, DISTORT, PROJECT

You don’t listen with your heart.

You listen with your history.

You add meaning where none was given.

You hear threat where there was a request.

You hear blame where there was pain.

You respond not to them —

but to the version of them you created in your head.

And that’s not listening.

That’s arguing with your imagination.

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SECTION 3: YOU FEAR SILENCE BECAUSE IT EXPOSES YOU

When a pause appears,

you rush to fill it.

Not because you care.

But because silence forces you to feel.

And you don’t want that.

You don’t want to hear your own discomfort,

your confusion,

your mistakes,

your emptiness.

So you talk.

And talk.

And talk.

You think you’re wise.

But you’re just loud.

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SECTION 4: YOU LOVE YOUR OPINION MORE THAN THEIR TRUTH

You pretend to care.

You nod, frown, emote.

But deep inside,

you’re clinging to your belief,

your logic,

your righteousness.

You give advice not to help —

but to feel smart.

You empathize not to connect —

but to look good.

You stay silent not to listen —

but to avoid blame.

You’ve turned every dialogue into a defence.

Every apology into a strategy.

Every connection into a performance.

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SECTION 5: YOU NEVER EVEN LISTENED TO YOURSELF

You say you’re self-aware.

But when did you last sit

with your own raw truth?

You override your fatigue.

You silence your sadness.

You fake your joy.

You deny your resentment.

You don’t hear your body.

You don’t trust your gut.

You don’t let your soul breathe.

You live in your head —

trapped in loops of thought, noise, and defense.

So how can you possibly hear another person

when you’re drowning in your own static?

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SECTION 6: YOUR RELATIONSHIPS AREN’T DEEP — THEY’RE MANAGED

When someone tries to open up to you,

you redirect.

You rationalize.

You generalize.

You make it about you.

You don’t hold space.

You fill space.

Your child stops talking.

Your partner withdraws.

Your friends vent elsewhere.

You wonder why.

But you never noticed

that you’ve always been

the loudest person in the room —

even in silence.

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SECTION 7: YOU USE YOUR VOICE TO STAY SAFE, NOT TO CONNECT

You talk to control.

You talk to distract.

You talk to avoid being changed.

Because true listening would demand

you stop.

You soften.

You admit.

You don’t want that.

You want to be respected, not revealed.

Admired, not questioned.

Heard, not altered.

You speak to be seen.

But you refuse to truly see.

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SECTION 8: YOU KEPT MISSING THE MIRACLE

Every time someone tried to reach you,

you missed it.

You responded,

but you didn’t receive.

You smiled,

but you didn’t hold.

You heard,

but you didn’t absorb.

You spoke back,

but you never gave back.

You kept talking,

because silence was too honest.

And their truth

was too inconvenient

for your image of yourself.

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CONCLUSION: YOU HAVE NEVER TRULY TALKED TO ANYONE

Not your parent.

Not your partner.

Not your child.

Not your friend.

You’ve only talked to yourself —

in front of them.

You’ve argued with your own assumptions.

You’ve confirmed your own beliefs.

You’ve admired your own logic.

You never really heard them.

You never really met them.

And you never really let them in.

Until you do —

until you shut up inside —

you are alone.

No matter how many people surround you.

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