A succinct introduction of why I am writing this article – I had an argument with one of my colleague, It was on a topic “Whether all affluent people should turn to philanthropy”. After some assertions and rebuttals we finally reached a point where we both were on the same page. But here started an altercation; My colleague did not realize that we both were arguing from the same end and the discussion was leading nowhere. I was trying to explain him on his stance and the situation but, he was not ready to LISTEN!!! So, I had to end the discussion abruptly and got back to my work.

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” Yes, I do agree that there would be a thought process that would be going on to rebut others arguments but that does not mean we do not listen to what others have to say. We do need to comprehend their views and then come out with a reply, Just blurting out what ever we think in our mind would just add to our miseries and show our incompetence of listening.

Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn’t listening. Present-day pressures have shrunk our attention spans and impoverished the quality of listening in our life.

When we are watching TV and commercials come on, half the time we don’t listen a thing. We like to think we are good at multi taksing. We check our mail while talking on the phone. We read a newspaper while watching TV. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can do more than one thing at a time. But the truth is we just end up doing one thing after another poorly.

How we lost the art of listening is certainly a matter for debate. But what is not debatable is that this loss leaves us with a rending vent in our lives.

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” – Doug Larson.