This card says: When I shine, I listen with my whole body. I turn towards the person, maintain eye contact and hold them in our combined light. I do not focus on my reply or even on what I think about what they are saying. I focus only on them and on what they are saying right now. Right here. I listen.
This is one that I need to repeat 100 times. And I will still get it wrong. Listening means paying attention. It means hearing exactly what the other person is saying. Staying engaged with them and paying attention to their words, to the feelings under those words, to the facial expressions, the body and on and on.
None of which is possible if I am too busy thinking about my week or even forming my reply. If I am thinking, I am not listening. I am not present.
When I listen to respond, I am not really listening. I am not really open to what’s actually being said. As it is, we often listen with so many filters. The person says one thing and we hear something different. When you then add the “replying” to that, I’m really not listening.
There are rare times when I am not too busy thinking about my todo list or any other distracting thought. In those rare times, I’d like to at least listen with my whole body, mind and soul.
And then when I can get good at that, I can work on getting better at doing in when it’s a time when I do feel rushed.
Learning to shine takes many, many, many days.
Shining Means is a Monthly Project for March 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
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