Do you sometimes feel like your family members, friends, or co-workers are not listening to what you have to say ?
Feeling ignored is an uncomfortable feeling ; we all rightly expect to be shown respect, and listened to.
If you habitually feel this way, ask yourself if you are making any of these common communication errors :
- Do you speak too softly, or too quickly?
- Do you mumble ?
- Are you talking too much ? Do you often complain, or criticize ?
- Do you yell to get someone’s attention ?
It is important to be able to see the person we are trying to communicate with. Talking to someone from another room is rude, and results in miscommunication. However, this, of course, does not apply in case of emergency.
Perhaps the best course in communication training occurs when one communicates with young children for years. My words were always brief and concise. They still are, since people generally have short attention spans.
At the same time, I always listened carefully to the children. Children who are not carefully listened to, often become adults with poor listening skills.
I also encouraged children, from a young age, not to interrupt others. Interrupting people displays a lack of manners. If someone decides to interrupt me, I just keep talking. Usually people get the message !
Although people may not ‘hear’ us, for a variety of reasons, God always hears us. Whether our prayers are long and eloquent, or whether they are simple pleas for help, God hears the prayers of his children. He loves us, and he hears us. He answers our prayers in his way, and in his perfect timing.
Pictured is ‘Paris’ a seaside Golden Retriever.
