February 8 Listening

Listening

I will be talking about relationships in the next several “Blessings”. My definition of a relationship is broad, it can be husband/wife, parent/child, brother/sister, co-workers, friends, and the list goes on.
An important elements in a good relationship is the ability to truly listen to each other. One of webster’s definations of listening is to hear something with thoughtful attention : give consideration. Often in relationships, we as human beings are so focused on what we are going to say that we forget to listen to what is being said. Listed below are some barriers to listening.
Beware of the following things that may get in the way of listening.
· bias or prejudice (I know what you are going to say)
· language differences or accents
· noise (kids, TV, radio, etc)
· worry (thinking about how you will respond)
· fear (I do not want to hear what he/she is telling me.)
· anger (Too upset to listen)
· lack of attention span (thoughts of other things you think you need to do.)
Focus on removing these barriers when you are listening.

Blessings
Robin