How do you listen?
Would you say you listen well?
For many of us, we would say we are great listeners especially when the circumstance or context is right. Most of us tend to be great listeners of each other over a great meeting, a wonderful meal or over a nice cup of tea or coffee. In those situations, listening generously to others is really easy!
This Navajo response on what listening can offer bears our attention.
When good listening is practiced, people want you back.
People want to talk to you again.
How do we practice to be good listeners then?
Get yourself out
of the way first.
During the Second World War, a group of Navajo Indians were recruited to the US Marine Corps because their language allowed a highly efficient code to be devised, translating three lines of English in 20 seconds, not 30 minutes as was common with existing code-breaking machines then.
Now, imagine a language and a brain capable of listening and decoding what others are actually saying with such simplicity.
That’s what journaling does.
In our world today, it seems there is an endless stream of things to do and take care of. The to-do lists never seem to end and even when you live in simple daily joy, there is a recognition that your time is a precious commodity that needs to be wisely spent.
How do you listen well, kind and generous when you have so much going on?
GIVE UP? Avoid? TUNE OUT?
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Grab a notebook and try putting your thoughts on paper.
This brain dump is a great way to achieve mental and emotional wellness – a much needed gift in our world today.
Know someone who’s tuning you out? Write out your hurt there.
Something to clarify? Process it in a journal first.
Your heart is full? Or in need of a happy heart? Either way, start a gratitude journal!
Take an occasional 20 minutes to write nonstop – fill those empty pages with whatever thoughts or feelings you have. Keep that pen moving.
Your parent, spouse, boss, employee, neighbor, friend, the exes, or complete stranger will thank you for this work you do.
Read more about the Navajo contributions here: Code Talkers
Joy can be simple, no matter what, on a daily basis.
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