Acceptance: The key to being a good listener

I love to listen to people and learn about their life stories. Whenever I listen to others, I listen to their words, stories, actions, emotions, and feelings, and I observe my emotional responses to them. I not only discover who they are, but I have my own experience interacting with them, bringing my own sense of meaning to that conversation. Listening then becomes an exercise in being present with someone else, helping them feel seen and heard, and not alone. I accept others as they are a...