Focus on Listening

Do you really listen to others? Or do you simply hear what they're saying? "What's the difference?" I hear you say. Well, this is what I've learnt. Persons speak to us and we don't listen! We hear them. We listen 25% of the time and hear and make up the rest of the story 75% of the time. And of course while they're talking, our mind is going at 25 miles per hour thinking of our next question, right? Listen folks! When we listen and I mean truly listen we respect the other person and we respect their views and opinions. The speaker can be heard and his message can then be understood. The message is communicated in totality and with clarity. As a child have you ever played that game where someone whispers something to someone else who in turn whispers what she hears to another person... and around it goes. But by time the message comes back to the original person it is 'way off'. This is the distortion of the message and is what happens when we don't listen. We think we hear what the previous person says. My friends this is okay for a child's game but can you imagine the serious implications for us as adults when we don't listen? When our boss doesn't listen to us