I heard a great quote a while back that really stuck with me.
“The greatest gift you can give another is the fullness of your attention”
We all know how you feel when someone is really listening to you and we know what it’s like when someone is not listening to you, especially when they think they are.
There is a really good reason why we have 2 ears and only one mouth. We should be listening twice as much as speaking.
Communication is hard at the best of times but when you are trying to express yourself verbally and the receiving party is distracted, interrupting, talking over you or interpreting what you are saying in a completely different way, you know there is a communication breakdown.
I believe that one of the reasons that the wisest people become wiser is because they have figured out that when they speak, they learn nothing but when others speak and they listen, they learn everything.
For the most part people will not remember much of what you said or did but they will remember how you made them feel and people feel validated when you truly listen to them.
Originally published at balanceformaximumwellness.com on August 30, 2016.
Originally published at medium.com