Becoming a "SpongeBob"

We're all familiar of the hit tv animated series Spongebob Squarepants, right? This yellow spongy character sure brings one hell of a fun together with his friends in bikini bottom. But becoming a human spongebob is similar in some ways but different in other aspects. Sure you bring happiness to others who are down and weary, but surely it will tire and wear you out. I've been a human spongebob lately, or moreso called the emotional trashcan.

Being a confidant of a person sure is a priviledge, most especially for your friends and family. This gives the assurance that they deeply trust you and you will never fail to give out your listening heart and comforting arms to them. It gives us this next level of friendship, creating a stronger bond that goes beyond just mere fun and gimmiks as it tackles a deeper sense of personal exposure to vulnerability.

Consoling

Consoling is not as easy at it looks. The slightest misinterpretation of your actions and words might bring more confusion and discomfort to your friend. You don't know how this person might react to how you deliver your message of comfort. It should be simple and not imposing and most of all non-threatening.

Well, trust your instincts. Your friend has chosen you to listen. With that fact, he/she is already comfortable with your presence. You have that redeeming factor that your friend found in you.

You might be the joker that could bring back the smile. Or the dictator who yells back and command what he/she must do with hus/her life. Or a communist who will freak out and charge the other party. Or the democrat who lays down the pros and cons of the situation. Or the headbanger who nods all the time regardless of where the topic goes. Or the optimist who shows the bright future and the great opporunities that lie beyond sea. Whoever you may be, the fact remains that he/she is your friend you you are there for the purpose of consoling.

Listening

What about it? Yes you might be listening, physically, but are you really listening? Listening is a skill that goes beyond hearing. It takes a heart to hear what your friend is really talking about. You will get the feel of the true essence of listening when you start to imagine yourself into the situation, going beyond the words and breaks the doubts that you have.

Giving Advises

The best advise is not to give an advise as this would tend to either make tye person retreat or stage an uprising. At the end if things don't go well, you are to be blamed. So no advise is the best advise.

Then what else to do? Give options. This is the part where you lay down how you think of the situation. "if you do this, this might end like this. Or if that, i thnk this will result to this." Let the person decide the course of action. This is the main reason you are there, to give sane, sober, legal, plain, realistic, simple, unbiased and humane cognitive view On how things are because your friend is not in a normal state of thinking. Lay down the cards.

Each person has a different reaction to different situaions and stimuli that provoked surfacing of such strong emotions. Nonetheless, you are there to comfort and support your friend who trusts you. Your main task is to be the sponge who will absorb all the emotional hits (and sometimes physical).

Take time to squeeze these emotions out of you as well. This may affect your thinking and feeling and even your health.

So, how are you as a spongebob?