Respecting the Pain

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I’m not a psychologist nor would I pretend to be. However, I remember reading a book about this in my twenties, and over the years it has popped into my head. It’s about minimizing or dismissing someone else’s problems or pain. I remember I was very upset about something last year, and someone was persistent in getting me to talk about why I was upset. After I told them, they totally dismissed it as a problem. And anyone who has had this problem KNOWS it is a legit problem. I was just so shocked they had asked and asked, I told them, then they blew it off and changed the subject. Now, don’t misunderstand me; if someone is a drama queen and they have two meaningless parties to attend, but don’t want to offend anyone, I understand privately dismissing this in your head. It makes you hesitant to confide in someone. Maybe you start to keep things bottled up. Just think twice before you write off a problem someone shares. It may not be important to you, but it is very real to them.