Listening

Today, I caught the last few minutes of the Oprah show. She said something quite profound, that made me sit and think for a bit about the power of listening. I can't remember her exact words, but this is pretty close..."If you want to be a star, be a listener."

Most of us rush to talk all about ourselves, what we stand for, what we like to do, what we can't stand and what we think people need to know right off the bat about us. When we meet someone that is like that, most of use tune out and think, "wow, what a blowhard".

My great grandfather, shown above with my aunt, was a listener. A quiet man that soaked everything in. When he did speak, everyone listened because everyone knew that he didn't waste words or spend hours mindlessly talking about himself. If you think about "wise" people you never imagine them as "motor mouths" but rather the strong silent type.

One of the things that makes a good therapist is that they listen well, then talk. One of the things about a good spiritual councilor is that they listen to you, instead of telling you all about their experiences and how they did this or that.

Listening more, talking less, is my new challenge. Wonder if that means I will blog less ?

P.S.

I am not planning on quitting blogging... but it has lost some of its luster for me.