The Importance of Listening

Since we were born, communication has been something we practice everyday. From coos and cries, to gossip at the middle school lunch table, all we have ever wanted was to be heard and understood. The older we get, and the more we understand the art of holding a conversation, we come to realize that there is more to it than just spewing out our thoughts. 

Yes, conversations can be entertaining or beneficial to you but there are also times when we have to discuss things that we don’t necessarily agree with but that doesn’t change the fact that we should listen. Listening is a skill that we didn’t spend half as much time working on. We are so comfortable sharing what we think and how we feel that sometimes we, maybe unconsciously, dismiss other’s input to the conversation. Have you ever heard that someone “just listens to respond”? People tend to listen to someone just to recognize when they are done talking so that they can continue to add their opinions to the conversation. A lot of the times, their response has nothing to do with what the person just said. This is an issue. 

At this time, and at our age, we should be able to hold a conversation regardless of everyone’s standpoint. We should be able to listen and respectfully acknowledge someone else’s ideas. We are too comfortable telling someone that the way they think is stupid before we even attempt to understand why they even feel the way they feel about the topic at hand. We don’t desire to learn from other’s as much as we desire to be heard and agreed with. That doesn’t seem like an issue until we take a step back and realize that a good bit of issues could be avoided if we listened to each other a little more. 

We should be listening and analyzing what people say to us, not just screening to see “Yes, I agree” or “No, I don’t agree”. For me, listening becomes an issue whenever someone is giving me advice. The more I think about it, the truth irritates me sometimes when I know I’m in the wrong because “I already know”. I’m aware of my actions and me getting called out for them does spike minor conflict. You have to be able to overcome that though. Whenever someone is giving me advice, I have to stop myself from getting offended and listen because 9/10, they care enough about me to share how they feel in hopes of helping. They want to offer a different view of the situation and then allow me to do with the information as I please. This is only effective if I, in fact, am listening to everything they have to say. 

Listening may seem hard at times. Listening may even make you frustrated but when you realize that listening yields more benefits than problems then conversations become noticeably easier. My mom always told me “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason”. Make use of what God gave you.