listening
I don't listen well. I have been discovering this for quite a while. I don't allow people to speak their minds and just listen to them. Instead I'm already formulating my response before I have even heard them out. I cut people off, and I assume that I already know what they are planning to say as soon as I start listening. This is not actually listening. This is simply waiting for an opportunity to talk, an opportunity to hear my own voice and all the wonderful things I have to say. And I do have good things to say. I have a unique voice and perspective and deep thoughts that should be shared. It is not that it is wrong for me to speak. The problem is that I speak when I should listen. And when I speak instead of listen, I am devaluing my conversation partner . When I am already formulating my response, I am not truly valuing the person in front of me . I am not giving them my time and attention. And shockingly enough, they may not even need me to respond. They may