Ek hoor jou!!

How often do we hear words pouring from the mouths of people, we hear stories and opinions and we hear them venting and expressing how they feel and what they want and what they are missing. Some are desperate for conversation, some have something to get off their chest and others are perpetual whiners.  But are we actually hearing them?  We tend to build up a resistence to words which are used continuously and patterns in what people say, especially those that are closest to us.  We waste so much time trying to explain to others who we know at the end of the day will just do their own thing and will probably still misunderstand us, notwithstanding what we say or suggest.  It takes a rare talent in someone who hears even the silences and the quiet moments and yet is still able to figure out, what it is that you are trying to say.  How often do you hear the words like "are you even listening to me" or "why do I even bother speaking, when you are not listening".  We need to be more attentive to hearing what others are trying to say and not simply listening for the sake of doing so.  It means though, being able also to realize when people are talking for the sake of conversation and  when they are truly searching and reaching  out and once they hit the correct chords, we can make an invaluable contribution to their lives by hearing the words and helping them to implement those feelings or actions they desperately want to achieve, but they need the push to do something about it.  Only a person that hears what it is all about will be able to reply in the way that either helps to give them confidence to go on, or convinces them not to go further.  It is a question of linking trust to listening and cutting through all the words and sentences and focusing in on the crux of conversations.  You make get a reputation of being impatient or a little too focused on facts, but it is remarkable how we ultimately look to the people that say very little to begin with and who rather hear us, resist judgement and respond with a few well placed and meaningful words, to be the ones that we want along side us through our journey in life.