L is for listen

I want to LISTEN as if I am studying fine, complex, beautiful art, a masterpiece, rather than as if I’m engaged in a hard game of competitive verbal tennis.

I want to listen as one who has much to learn rather than hide behind a secretly held belief that I’m the one with much to teach.

I know arrogance neither hears nor listens well, or accurately, but hears what it wants to hear. Arrogance reshapes what’s said into what the listener wants to hear or wishes was said.

I know that if I think I’ve “heard it all before” then I’m not listening.

Listening, really listening, can open new worlds for those who speak and those who listen and lead both down a path of brave discoveries. It’s a risk both parties must take if their communion is to improve. 

I know the loving listener listens to what is said, listens to what is unsaid, and does so without rearranging either.

The authentic listener is capable of leaving the world of another admired and untouched – no matter how beautiful or how troubled that world may be.