Taking the Time to Listen

Listening to a person drone continuously on about a subject can be boring. We have all had instances where we tune out what the person is saying because we simply do not care at the moment. We are too busy thinking about what else we need to do today and if we will have time to get our fix for caffeine on the way to the next item on the list.

We race from one task to another, telling people that we will talk to them if they make it fast and simple. However, we are not really listening to the words that they are saying, the feelings in their voice, whether or not this subject means a lot to them. We brush it off and continue on with our lives, with what we want to do.

Conversations, that used to fill up entire afternoons are now filled with quick, short-handed messages that often are shallow and never delve into the deeper topics of life, or they do and we do not completely listen to the whole problem. Then when a problem escalates, we wonder where it all went wrong.

We often want to blame the person, saying that they never told us about what they were going through. However, the opposite is true. They told us, we were not prepared to listen. We were not ready to receive what they are saying. By not being able to receive their words, we are also not understanding what they are saying and therefore are less effective when giving advice.

While just even taking the time to listen can be a problem, it’s relating and trying to understand where people are coming from that is another challenge. While there are situations where we cannot relate to others on and all we can do is hug them, there are times when we can offer advice when we have gone through a similar situation.

However, those conversations are disappearing from our daily lives. With all of the technology that we have these days, it make it easier for us to disconnect with people and be friends from afar. We may want to care, but our hearts need to be there to listen so that we can open up and understand others.

Will you open up to start listening to others?