Listening Means Really Hearing

Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.   

 -- Dr. Joyce Brothers

In our daily communications, we spend nearly half of our time listening.  Yet, people often complain that “nobody’s listening” – and too often that is true.  Good listening is powerful in aiding human relationships and necessary for real communication to take place.  

When we feel as though we’ve been heard, been listened to, we love the listener who has embraced us and our thoughts and feelings.  We connect and feel understood, and we develop trust and mutual respect. Our confidence and self-esteem get a boost, and we feel empowered.

How do we know when people are listening to us? We have eye contact, and they are focused on us -- not on their cell phones, the newspaper, or the television. They are nodding or responding appropriately. They are asking questions to gather more information or to clarify. They do not interrupt us. We feel heard, and it feels good.

One person whom we truly need to listen to is ourselves.  Too often, that’s the person we discount, the one whom we pass over in search of someone else who will tell us what we want, what we need, what we think, or how we should proceed.  But, inside each of us is the capacity to think, to answer our own questions, to decide what path to take.  We just need to listen to our inner voice.

Question of the day: Who is it that listens to you, and how do they let you know they hear you?

~xoA~