children,
“Mom, guess what?’ she squealed, waving the drawing.
“Her mother never looked up.
“What?’ she said tending to the pots.
“‘Guess what?’ the child repeated, waving the drawing.
“’What?’ the mother said, tending to the plates.
“‘Mom you are not listening.’
“‘Sweetie, yes I am.’
“‘Mom, ‘the child said, ‘you’re not listening with your eyes.’ “
This passage is taken from the novel have a little faith by Mitch Albom, while I was reading this I realized this child’s words are so simple but so true. How many times in your life have you been so preoccupied with whatever your doing whether it was taking care of your children or rushing to get to work or simply shopping that you have missed a whole world around you, because you weren’t listening with your eyes. Only giving one sense like hearing to a person results in missing out on important information like the happiness on our child’s face when they reveal a masterpiece to you made be their own hands, or the pain in the strangers face when they respond to your generic question of “How are you?” Answer “Fine.” But in fact they are in desperate need of compassion. Maybe you missed the exhaustion in your husband’s face after a long day at work when you are nagging him about all the things he hasn’t done. I wonder how many times in life we have praised ourselves on being such devote listeners but in fact we were only listening with our ears and not our eyes. There is a whole world of people out there some close to us and some strangers but aren’t all these people worthy of your full attention when they are talking to you. God did not give us multiple senses that we can use simultaneously if he did not want us using them. When listen incompletely we don’t get the whole story and God places certain individuals in our lives for a reason, we are bound by conscience to do good by these people. We need to open our eyes and observe the world. take in the colors, catch sight of the happiness, notice the grief and destruction. We may not be able to repair everything around us but we can pay attention and show understanding or give encouragement or merely share in the joy of a job well done. Are we too busy to give others around us our consideration? And if we are that busy then we need to slow our lives down. Life is not a race to get everything done but in fact a slow meaningful journey that affects everything and everyone around us. And do you want that affect to be ignorance or thoughtfulness? Time is a wheel in constant motion always going forward never going back. Do want time to pass you by and never see anything around you? Is dishes and laundry more important than the smile on your child’s face? I believe if people stopped and took a breath and saw what was around them the world would be better place. We may hear everything is fine but by looking we would see that things are not good and at times just giving people comforting words when we see they are suffering helps to brighten their day. And sometimes by sharing in a child enthusiasm encourages them to continue their passions. We need to thank the worn out cashier for being so attentive. Tell the janitor that you appreciate what he does. Give you husband a hug and thank him for providing. Be amazed and the scribbles on a pieces of paper. By using our ears and our eyes enables us to be better people and do better by others. How many times has miscommunication happened because what we heard does not give us the entire picture? Starting today put down the dish cloth and open your eyes because you are missing out on a little thing called life!
Your Not Listening!
“A little girl came home from school with a drawing she’d made in class. She danced into the kitchen, where her mother was preparing dinner.“Mom, guess what?’ she squealed, waving the drawing.
“Her mother never looked up.
“What?’ she said tending to the pots.
“‘Guess what?’ the child repeated, waving the drawing.
“’What?’ the mother said, tending to the plates.
“‘Mom you are not listening.’
“‘Sweetie, yes I am.’
“‘Mom, ‘the child said, ‘you’re not listening with your eyes.’ “
This passage is taken from the novel have a little faith by Mitch Albom, while I was reading this I realized this child’s words are so simple but so true. How many times in your life have you been so preoccupied with whatever your doing whether it was taking care of your children or rushing to get to work or simply shopping that you have missed a whole world around you, because you weren’t listening with your eyes. Only giving one sense like hearing to a person results in missing out on important information like the happiness on our child’s face when they reveal a masterpiece to you made be their own hands, or the pain in the strangers face when they respond to your generic question of “How are you?” Answer “Fine.” But in fact they are in desperate need of compassion. Maybe you missed the exhaustion in your husband’s face after a long day at work when you are nagging him about all the things he hasn’t done. I wonder how many times in life we have praised ourselves on being such devote listeners but in fact we were only listening with our ears and not our eyes. There is a whole world of people out there some close to us and some strangers but aren’t all these people worthy of your full attention when they are talking to you. God did not give us multiple senses that we can use simultaneously if he did not want us using them. When listen incompletely we don’t get the whole story and God places certain individuals in our lives for a reason, we are bound by conscience to do good by these people. We need to open our eyes and observe the world. take in the colors, catch sight of the happiness, notice the grief and destruction. We may not be able to repair everything around us but we can pay attention and show understanding or give encouragement or merely share in the joy of a job well done. Are we too busy to give others around us our consideration? And if we are that busy then we need to slow our lives down. Life is not a race to get everything done but in fact a slow meaningful journey that affects everything and everyone around us. And do you want that affect to be ignorance or thoughtfulness? Time is a wheel in constant motion always going forward never going back. Do want time to pass you by and never see anything around you? Is dishes and laundry more important than the smile on your child’s face? I believe if people stopped and took a breath and saw what was around them the world would be better place. We may hear everything is fine but by looking we would see that things are not good and at times just giving people comforting words when we see they are suffering helps to brighten their day. And sometimes by sharing in a child enthusiasm encourages them to continue their passions. We need to thank the worn out cashier for being so attentive. Tell the janitor that you appreciate what he does. Give you husband a hug and thank him for providing. Be amazed and the scribbles on a pieces of paper. By using our ears and our eyes enables us to be better people and do better by others. How many times has miscommunication happened because what we heard does not give us the entire picture? Starting today put down the dish cloth and open your eyes because you are missing out on a little thing called life!
3 comments:
I have been guilty of this so many times. We really do have to make time to just listen completely to others who are talking to us. This is even more important when the person talking to us is a child. Every child should feel important and special, and listening to him/her truly communicates that message. Great post. I will definitely have to visit again. Am following from MBC.
Great post! I love the idea of listening with your eyes, makes a world of difference!
How often I feign full attention when in fact, I'm thinking about what I want to say. Thanks, I needed this reminder to listen with my ears, my eyes and my heart. Lovely and thoughtful post!
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