Hello from my heart to yours....
The other day, my friend posted the following quote on her Facebook wall...
"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear." Winnie the Pooh ( to Eeyore ), Pooh's Little Instruction Book
Of course, being the Tigger that I am, the first thought that came to my mind was ... I'll just pounce on them if they aren't listening.... however, I know that this is soooo wrong.... lol
In thinking more about what Pooh said, I realized that we all could learn a lot from this quote. First and foremost, I thought of it in terms of prayer... prayer and meditation are very important to me... last night, Giorgio and I were headed to see a "sneak viewing" of War Horse... the traffic was horrific and I really thought we wouldn't make it in time. So, I was warning Giorgio that we may miss it... he turned off his Nintendo DS and said, "Well, how many "Hail Mary's" in the Rosary... 50?... I'm gonna start praying.." and he did.. and the time seemed to pass more quickly... and we did make it into the theater with 2 minutes to spare... now, I don't really think God had to do with the traffic moving a little quicker really, but hey, Giorgio thought it worked and when he sat down he said, "Thank You, God." and that made my heart smile for sure...
We all may feel that God is not listening because we pray and our prayers are not being answered.... but this isn't so... God is always listening... the problem is that we are not patient people... we want an instant response... we may not actually need our prayers answered when we want them to be.. God knows when we are ready for the answers to our supplications...
Now, let's talk about our loved ones that always seem to have "fluff in their ears"... maybe we're not speaking to them at the right time as they may be preoccupied with something else... or maybe we are using words that they do not understand (like when we are speaking to children about something)... or maybe we are just chit-chatting and what we are saying is truly insignificant to them... I don't know...
Certainly, we do not want to be accused of having fluff in our ears... what we probably need to try to do is. this.....when someone is telling us something, listen to the beginning of what is being said... maybe even a little more and then, step back and ask yourself "Can I give this person my attention right now?"... "Is this something that needs to be addressed immediately?"... "how important is it to this person that I listen attentively?" ... course, I say this, but am terrible about practicing it... the first thought that comes to my mind as I write this is how I totally dismiss my mother when she is talking... even last night, she asked me if she could have 20 minutes of my time to listen to her... and guess what I thought, "20 minutes?!.. that's a long time..." so horrible of me, I know. With my boys, I have no patience to "listen" to their chit-chat... I try, but then find that I am simply saying, "yes..oh great.. good.. okay, perfect" and then I have no idea really what was said.. with the older ones I say, "just tell me EXACTLY what it is you want to say... "
Anyway, so I guess the best way to start a conversation is to be considerate...(like my mother was to me)... ask the person you want to speak with "Do you have a minute to speak to me?" I notice that one of my brothers tries to do this when he calls me... he'll say, "Are you busy? can I tell you a story?" .. or he says, "Quick question, do you have a sec?" Most of the time, the other person will be receptive and listen... naturally though, you have to be prepared for rejection as well.. and you can't get upset about it.... as that is part of the definition of patience... ( persevering in the face of delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset ) ... this is so much easier said than done.... Believe me, I know from experience ... especially because I have another brother who just starts talking and talking and talking and then says I am the rude one when I say, "get to the point already..." lol
Back to God... (because today, I am trying to be the blessed person He intends for me to be, unlike yesterday... with the dead horses thing...whew...) ... anyway, He is patient and He never has fluff in his ears... He is the only One listening to us all the time... which reminds me of one more thing.. when I was a teenager I read a book called, Are you there God, it's me Margaret ... she was an awkward teenager who kept a journal about what she was going through as a young person... and in doing so, grew to understand oh so many things about herself and her fellow teenaged friends....
... if you feel that no one is listening to you when you want to speak, then simply do as Margaret did and speak to God or the Universe or whatever Spiritual Being you believe in... because you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to the world.... and eventually you will receive an answer from that Source... have faith, hope and love in your heart... and by all means, make sure you remove the fluff in your ears so that you are open to receive the answers to your prayers and meditations...
May your day be blessed with all things good,
With love,
Elena
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