Be quick to listen, slow to speak.
—James 1:19
The bumper sticker caught my eye: “My wife said I never listen to her—or something like that.”
Are you a good listener? It’s easy to get in the habit of tuning out when we should be tuning in.
Sometimes, instead of focusing, we get derailed. Something is said that brings back a memory, and off we go, reliving an experience, a conversation, a relationship.
Or we are preoccupied with a tangle of appointments, demands, promises, responsibilities, or regrets, battling for brain space, refusing to sit down, shut up, and listen.
Worst of all is fixation on self. Like the lady who blabbed for an hour about herself, then said to her dinner companion, “But enough about me, let’s talk about you—what do you think about me?”
Big egos wear earplugs.