Quantum Pearls - Day 2
What behaviors bring me closer to people? What behaviors cause separation?
Now that I have committed to answering thirty questions, I realize how challenging this is actually going to be. Talking about yourself “in public” is not an easy. It can also be interpreted as a vain activity. That’s not my intent. These are not my questions. My hope is that in trying to answer them I will provide myself with some guidance and reinforcement for how I want to live my life, and encouragement to follow that path. The answers I give will be good for the current moment at least. I plan to come back here and look at them from time-to-time and see how my opinion of them has or has not changed. That is as much the point of this exercise as providing the answers in the first place. So with that…
What I think brings me closer to people is listening to them. Listening without judging. Of course we judge. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t. So the idea is to judge as little as possible. That’s easy to do if what you are hearing aligns with your own beliefs, what if it doesn’t? If you disagree with what you are hearing, that’s when it’s probably time to avoid giving a response. Your explanation is likely to fall on deaf ears. (Perhaps as deaf as your own.) When this situation occurs, it’s better to wait until the other person asks you for your opinion before offering it. If your opinion is never asked for, that tells you something about the other person. If the other person matters to you, it becomes your job to show by your actions why you have a different opinion. The hope is that in time they will notice the message you are offering.