5 Perks Of Being A Good Listener

In this fast-paced world, having an attention span more than twenty minutes is a gift. Ability to seat for more than three hours without “zoning out” while listening to someone’s babbling is a super power.  Sympathizing and giving enlightening advices is a real talent. If you’re gifted with these super power and talent, congratulations, my friend, you are a listener. Embrace it. Listeners are rare species now. A person may have a lot of friends, but he would always go to this one friend whenever he/she needs “someone to talk to”, and that friend is you, because you’re a goddamn listener.  And these perks included in being-a-listener-package are not bad at all. Not bad, at all:

1. You’re entitled to free food.

You would always get a text message like this: “Hey, are you busy tomorrow? Can we have coffee/brunch/dinner tomorrow? I really need someone to talk to. My treat.” And because you would agree and come on time on the day of the meet-up, your friend would offer more. Plus, if your friend caught up talking than eating, you’d end up devouring his/her food, too.

2. You get the latest scoop.

If a friend breaks up with someone or starts to date, you’d be the first to know. Whenever a friend gets promoted or fired, you’d be the first to know. Every time a great thing or an unfortunate event happens to a friend, you’d be the first to know. You’re an effortless paparazzi – news crawl over to your doorstep.

3. You become a secret-keeper.

Most of the times, a friend would see you alone to talk to you whenever he/she needs “someone to talk to” because issues or news to tackle are somehow sensitive. And since you’d be the first to know, you become a secret-keeper. And admit it, being the only person who knows a secret is kind of exciting and empowering.

4. You get to understand this world better.

By listening to your friends’ stories, issues and struggles, you’re able to get a better grasp of what is this world made up. Everything you’ve heard can make you contemplate on significant aspects of your life. They can make you appreciate or repulse things you never cared about before. Listening to others is better than yoga.

5. You become the most awesome friend ever.

With sincere listening, you could break a friend’s wall and gain his/her trust. You get to know him/her better and vice versa. Being a listener could bring breakthrough moments which would make you become closer friends. It is more than flattering to know that you could help, sympathize, comfort and cheer up a friend just by sitting in front of him/her, listening while he/she poured his/her heart to you.