words from the unwise

I had a long conversation on Sunday with a person who I have some inappropriate feelings for, inappropriate in that they aren't reciprocal not that they are bad in and of themselves. During this conversation, he explained to me the struggle he is experiencing in his life currently...a struggle I am quite familiar with. So as I tried to talk with him, admittedly my not being in my best state for heady discussion, it felt to me like he was not taking in anything I was saying. Which isn't to say that I have THE ANSWERS, because I most certainly do not. But I feel like I have enough experience and outlook to share some of my opinions and that they are valid. But it didn't matter, it wasn't me he wanted to hear these things from. He is waiting to hear this from somebody else, somebody who he has fingered as THE ONE. And what struck me about this situation is how we close ourselves off to others who are wanting to share with us. I know I do it, I experience others doing it to me, I see others do it to others. It makes me wonder what learning I've missed along the way while I closed myself off to hearing what people were saying to me, when I've shut myself off from particular people or the world in general. I wonder what I missed in this particular situation because I had closed myself off to his words and meanings when they weren't what I wanted to or was ready to hear. It certainly makes me think about my perspective and perception and how my ideas about life are developed and possibly distorted because I don't take it all in. Not that I think it's possible to take it ALL in. So what is truth? What is real?