Do you ever learn to listen?

Yeaaaaaaaah. I’m so thrilled than ever to write again. (The reason is personal, so don’t ask me why) and hope you all have been doing really well? I have spent a couple of weeks learning new stuffs and doing really amazing things and that’s my inspiration.So I crave your indulgence to take you down memorably lane I mean in the days of:

Pupil: Aunty they are making noise in primary 4b!

Aunty: Go and Write the names of noise makers and submit to the Headteacher.

(After 5 minutes the list emerges)

Names of noise makes

1.      Joke

2.      Peace

3.      Femi

4.      Peace xce10

5.      Sadiat xce5

Heaven help you if your name is on the list. As a child, 60% of the time my name will appear on the glorious list (I’m not a noise maker anymore duo or) but to be real, these teachers did not teach us one vital tool for living! LISTENING!

Have you ever thought of how many times you have said “I am listening” to someone during a conversation and you cannot remember what was said? 

I tried to find out what the definition of listening is and amazingly, I discovered that to listen, means to

·         Pay attentions , be attentive , attend , concentrate on , concentrate on hearing , giving hear to, lending hear to

·         Take notice of and act on what someone says; respond to advice or a request. pay attention, take heed, heed, give heed, take notice, take note, mind, observe, watch, follow, notice, mark, bear in mind, give a thought to, take into consideration, take into account, take to heart, hang on

·         Used to urge someone to pay attention to what one is going to say.

So I discovered that to listen, requires a deliberate effort not just to hear but to understand.

listening is "pretty" good

As a Mass Communication graduate, I took a study and discovered that in Nigeria we have over 254 radio stations at the last count.  Just imagine the number of wave that they transmit and the fact that the most your radio can receive is, 20 stations and you can listen to just ONE part –time.( that it’s if, it is a good one like my grandpa own)

           

One principle I can’t forget is the fact that the communication chain, is not complete until there is feedback from the receiver. The receiver however cannot render a desirable feedback if attention is not been paid to the sent message. So, Listening is an important element to Man’s every day need which is communication. The same applies with learning, you cannot learn anything with your mouth talking, and learning is a function of listening.

(Feeling like a prof * wink* at least my mama moni no waste).

The interesting thing about my recent mental somersault is the fact the no relationship,marriage, business enterprises can be tagged successful without someone listening.(I can’tJust imagine talking to my darling and he is lost in his own world).

 Take it or leave it: “Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening."— Larry King. You we will forever have one mouth and two ears.

So what should we listen to since to listen, is more important than to talk or hear?

Firstly I think we should all listen to ourselves. Maybe one of the reasons we are not where we should be is because we have not spent enough time listening to ourselves. It is our six senses “that thing that was telling you not to buy those pair of shoes that day”. If someone has told you “Do you ever listen to yourself at all”, you definitely know what I am talking about. So spend at least 15mins every day before you retire to sleep to listen to yourself.

Secondly is to listen to God. Every being on earth listens to a superior being, it is either you listen to God or you listen to the devil. The same way you hear God speak to you, is the same way some people hear the devil speak. “It is what to pay attention to that you will hear”. I discovered from my few years of walking with God that listening requires time, patience and attention. So each morning I wake up to say “The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”

And lastly, listen to people. The best way to understand people is to listen to them."-Ralph Nichols.80% of problems in the world are communication base.Man's inability to communicate is a result of his failure to listen effectively.Steve R. Covey author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." If only we can all listen, what a wonder full world we will have.If you intend to learn from others, listen. For “The beginning of wisdom is silence.  The second stage is listening”. A Hebrew sage

 I therefore, submit that if the hearing-impaired folks still listen to sound, music, people, it is important we all and I mean including me with functional ears should listen “for to answer before listening-- that is folly and shame.”Please remember that Listening is not a sign of weakness or foolishness for “A good listener is not someone with nothing to say” he/she is someone who understands that Some people are easily entertained when All you have to do is sit and listen to them

"Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble."— Frank Tyger

I love y’all *kisses*