Mindful Hack #91

Hello Lovely Souls,
 
I like to talk. I always have. As a kid, I came home from school and recounted all the things that happened that day: what I learned, how lunch was, playground drama, and so on. But I don’t ever remember asking my mother how her day was. What a miss … Sorry, Mom. 
 
My grandfather (I’m sure affectionately) called me a “chatterbox,” and I wonder all these years later if he was gently trying to tell me to speak less, listen more.
 
As I got older, probably much older, I learned the importance of sharing the floor with others. As an adult, I have more than once felt a little bored or even annoyed by people who speak incessantly without giving anyone else a word of edgewise. Feeling engaged and connected needs give and take.
 
I wish I could remember when I heard it first, but I know it was a teacher in mindfulness somewhere along the way who said, so simply, “when we talk, we repeat what we already know. When we listen, we learn.” That message hit me hard, likely because I identified with being a chatterbox and realized there was a ton of learning I could be missing. And even more than the learning potential, when we listen, we give others the opportunity to feel heard, which is no small gift to them. Win-win.
 
So, for this week’s mindful hack, I remind myself and offer this: may we use our words to share our wisdom, and our attention to learn (and to give).
 
Mindfully yours,

Adriane