I think it was beaten into me by childhood trauma.
And then i have become very meditative.
I do not have a strong personality that i will defend
so, in a way, i am a natural listener.
I even have some "friends" who think they are doing me a favor dumping all of their day's happening on me.
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not sure what generation you come from but there were still a lot of GenX'rs who were raised to be "seen and not heard" and to blindly respect authority figures. I'm astounded when I look back and realize how our childhoods had more in common with the 1950's than today's society.
It's good that you're a person who is meditative and reflects. We need more of this in the world.
Ugh, I bet that can feel burdensome sometimes. Good listeners often have people flocking to them, I guess because they're so rare? My mom is that way, a lot of people confide in her.