Listen and listen good! Communication 101

Listening and listen good: Communication 101

I was having a conversation with my daughter. We were talking about general bad habits around the house. All though my daughter is an adult, I went into my "Father knows Best" mode and started giving her instructions on how to watch for bad habits when visiting other people's homes, as I was in mid sentence, she cut me off!

I guess she figured she heard enough, and knew what I was about to say. My guess is she didn't want to hear a long lecture and launched into her dissertation on her excellent outside-the-house- good-habits! She went on with how careful she was about her conduct around her friends, her good,no, excellent manners. Her being polite and how conscience she was of leaving things out, how she ALWAYS put thing back where she found them. She was on a roll!. I'm almost thinking.....who are you and what have you done with my daughter!?I took both of her hands, looked her in the eyes and asked "How much have you learned in life by talking?" She smiled and apologized.

One of the major ways we learn as we go through life is from listening, hearing what's being said, and sometimes what's not being said. To the men, someone once said:"Listen very closely when a women is quiet!"  And to the women: "If you wish to know the mind of a man,listen to his words." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Want to know what's one of the first steps in the development of a healthy relationship? Start with listening to each other. Listening is crucial when it comes to learning your mate!  I can't over emphasize this point. When a husband and wife learn to listen to what is being said in a conversation between the two, and take into consideration that they are individuals and deserve to be heard, and appreciated, the building blocks of a solid relationship are being established.

Has this ever happened to you? Your husband or wife has done something, or said something that didn't sit well with you and as a result you were hot, mad, upset! However as you heard them out and listened to their explanation, anger began to leave. I know this doesn't happen all of the time, but you get the point, that it was through listening that a blow-up or fight was averted.

So remember, One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.

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