I can listen to the TV as I type this blog post. Just because I am listening to something in the background doesn't mean that I am attending to it closely. I like to have noise when I work, be it TV, talk radio, or music. I listen to the noise, but I attend to the task that I am working on. Sound familiar to anyone?
So we all know what listen means in theory, but in reality I don't think that most of us do it. There is a thriving business in various forms of talk therapy. Some people have a running joke about their therapist. But why is that field so popular? Why do so many people seek professional help of that nature? Among other things, I contend because the therapist actually, really, wholeheartedly listens. In that way, people that go to see a therapist get something that they can't get from most other people: someone that will actually listen and attend closely to what is being said.
So think about the conversations that you have with others. Does the cell phone figure prominently? And I mean in face to face conversations. Do you take the time to value the other person and listen attentively? Do you really hear what the person is saying? Do you listen hard enough that you can hear what the other person is not saying? It's all there if we listen properly.