Have you ever wondered how effective of a listener you are? Probably not, right? We all think that we are effective listeners. We tend to think our struggles are more on the hearing end of the spectrum than the listening end. If our miscommunications are hearing based, why don't we get our ears checked?
Maybe we didn't "hear" what someone said to us because we weren't present in the moment. Often it is our attention that is really at issue. Combine hearing loss with attention challenges and you get recipe for poor listening. I know in this great age of multitasking, everybody can do two (or more) things at once.
At least we think we can. Studies suggest that people experience a slow down in their cognitive processes the more tasks they do at the same time. That means when we attempt to do two things at once, we aren't thinking at our highest potential.
What does that have to do with listening? Often, we find ourselves in situations where our attention is spread out. We might be watching t.v. while conversing with a close friend, and find that we have missed part of what they are saying or an important plot development.
Poor listening skills may not seem unimportant. They may seem like an academic problem, but in reality they are much more serious. Inability (or unwillingness) to listen creates tension in our relationships. It creates a disorganized environment where things are easily forgotten. Poor listen skills affect our spiritual life as well. It is silly to think we can be ineffective listeners with other people, but great listeners when it comes to God.
More often than not, the deaf ear is turned to God before we turn on our fellow man. We should find our inattentive listening habits disturbing. The people in our lives may be there to share a message from God. If we don't listen to them, we will miss it.
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