sharing and listening

Have you ever had the feeling of super excitement, almost like flying, heart singing, smile radiating throughout your body?

Depending on who you are, maybe you just polished and finished a beautiful poem, maybe your friend and you went to your favorite band's concert, maybe you just won a set of books with a raffle, maybe you just came back from a oh-so-challenging adventure trail, maybe your proposal was accepted to a conference for the first time, maybe you had a delicious meal in a small old-town cafe, or maybe you had a lesson where your students wrote more than you ever expected with ideas far beyond your imagination.

You can't hold the excitement, you want to share it, you look for an audience, and finally find someone and have a chance to relive your joy through spoken words.

You feel like a star.

Your listener nods.

And then....
And then the listener says, "Good story. It reminds me when I......" and tells a story ten times bigger and brighter than yours.

You feel less excited, back on earth, heart quiet, smile shrinking.

The spotlight is gone.
The magic is gone.
Your story....

I know that sharing stories is important, but sometimes...
Sometimes you should just listen. So should I.