Asking to be Heard

"There's a lot of difference between

listening and hearing."

G.K. Chesterton

Women have the tendency to be excellent listeners, but they may not hear what is really being said.  As little children, we listen to rhetoric or dogma as it shades our own perceptions, but we tend to carry on.  Then we are young adults listening, but beginning to question the rules being spun against our nature.  Adulthood tends to lock us into a predetermined profile, but truly hearing what is being said overcomes the habit of just listening.

Examine the face and discern if what is being said is supported by facial expression.  Is the person answering 'yes' while shaking the head 'no'?  Body language informs us if the person is rigid and up tight or laid back and relaxed.  Are we feeling abrasive anxiety from them or is there a swell of softness and security?  As we hear we can detect a deeper sense of a person's emotional elements.

When we listen, we are using our ears, but when we hear, we are accessing a diverse amount of information radiating from the speaker.  Instead of anticipating a perfect response, simply be present and embrace non-verbal indicators to receive the entire message.  Although we may be asked to listen, a person may actually be asking to be heard.