What are you listening to?
I heard something yesterday that forever changed my perspective, and hopefully will change me going forward.
My wife was opening a present that I had given her. Inside was a gift certificate I had purchased for her to do something that she wanted to do.
Her reaction, in a moment of honest joy, was a simple two word phrase...
“You listened”.
As she hit me with that beautiful smile that I fall deeper in love with every day, those two words resonated in a powerful way deep in my soul. For her, the gift of what she wanted to do was really secondary to the gift I had given by paying attention, and by knowing her, noticing her, valuing her and learning who she is. By listening to her, I was really saying that I loved her, and that her happiness was important to me.
Too many times in my life I listen to the sound of my own soul, my wants, my needs, my opinions, my judgments.
How often do I listen to the sound of someone else’s soul? Their wants, their needs, their opinions, even if they are diametrically opposed to my own.
For me, I don’t listen like I should.
So I need to be better, be quieter, pay more attention.
And listen.
Dr. Alan Barnes
