A couple stopped by last evening to have a glass of wine or three\u2026. During their time here, it occurred to me that neither one of them were very good listeners. I won\u2019t go into details, but if I picked up on it, I\u2019d say it must have been pretty obvious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of our friends knew that Claire and I had a tradition of setting aside one night each month to talk to each other and to listen<\/em> to each other. I am certainly not one to give advice, but if I had to make one single suggestion as to how to help virtually all relationships, it would be to become a better listener. Well, I got to wondering why more of us aren\u2019t very good listeners. I think guys believe listening is kind of sissy stuff \u2014 they\u2019d rather just jump right in do<\/em> something \u2014 just listening seems like you\u2019re doing nothing. But \u2014 the fact is that listening is the solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know I often don\u2019t listen to people as closely as I should, and I know how I feel when I think someone isn\u2019t listening to me. I don\u2019t think many of us realize just how bad we are at listening until someone tells us about it or points it out to us. Poor listening skills are kind of like a bad habit that we don\u2019t even realize we have sometimes. We probably all need to concentrate on listening to what someone is saying rather than thinking about what we\u2019re going to say when it\u2019s our turn\u2026. or, even worse, jumping in and interrupting someone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I think our one night a month tradition of talking and listening made us both better listeners. Becoming a better listener is an art form, but it mostly just requires your intention to become a better listener \u2014 and of course a bit of practice. Speaking from personal experience, you\u2019d be amazed at how much closer you feel to the ones your love if you just quiet down and become a better listener\u2026.. A couple stopped by last evening to have a glass of wine or three\u2026. During their time here, it occurred to me that neither one of them were very good listeners. I won\u2019t go into details, but if I picked … Continue reading
Without doing a lot of extensive research, I\u2019m not sure about this, but I\u2019d guess that men would win the prize for worst listeners. I\u2019d bet that if you took a survey of couples that claim they have a good, loving relationship and asked them what\u2019s the secret to their success, most of them would tell you that it\u2019s the other person\u2019s ability to listen that\u2019s a major contributor to the success of their relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"