I was doing a little surfing and came across this:
A woman is stuck in the mud and the man is trying to fix the situation by grabbing sticks to help pull her out, etc. The woman is crying out and the man is desperately trying to rescue her. After all, this is man’s instinct – to rescue, to fix. Finally, the woman yells: “I just want you to jump in the mud with me!!!” Women want our men to crawl into that ugly mud pit and sympathize with us. Isn’t it true? – from Learning to be a Wife
It reminds me of an article or book I’ve read, advice or tip I heard on television… I’m not too sure what the source was. It just sunk in my mental reserve that men like to “fix” things. I guess I’m kind of man-ly in that way, as I’m an action-type person. I’ve had to learn to quiet my own head a bit when people are telling me about an issue in their lives, instead of always being in action-mode (like I need to do for PTO or at work, etc.).
Simply listening, is helping. Quite often the person who is doing the talking just needs to talk, to tell someone, or to work things out themselves as they speak to a listening ear.
Bless my wonderful husband who has gotten so very good at simply listening and not always fixing. Granted, he’s had a lot of experience, especially through some of our difficult times the past couple years (and my ability to “talk it out” on a near daily – sometimes hourly – basis). I am very thankful for that.
We talked about this exact thing in our Purpose Driven Life Bible Study last weekend. We all sort of laughed at how true it was, that guys just want to fix, fix, fix. But I think you’re right, I think sometimes we all need to remember to just listen instead of try to solve the problem. It’s a good thing to remember!