The Art of Communication Something I’ve learned over the years yet still have not attained perfection at is the Art of Communication. All of my years on the mission field I was always taught I need to practice the art of communication. It’s not just talking to get my point across but it is listening to the point that you bring value to the speaker. I recently had to deal with the Art of Not Listening. This is something I have perfected. While dealing with cancer I have had someone whom I have stated in the past who has walked with me through the entire process. Yet, through the process I was focused on me. I had cancer, I had bills, I had the surgery and I was the one going through the pain. When you have someone walking with you through cancer there is no “I”. It should have been in my mind that “we” had cancer, “we” had bills, “we” had surgery and “we” were going through pain. I never considered how my cancer was affecting those closest to me. I could easily dismiss it in my mind that “I hope you never go through this.” But it turns out he was going through this right alongside me. I have learned that cancer has more than one victim and it may be affecting the person more who doesn’t have the cancer in his or her body. They have to standby possibly feeling hopeless because they cannot just make it go away. They may have questions in their mind of “Why would God allow this?” or “What could I have done better so this would not have happened?” The mind games are endless when a loved one is ill. Now, in the recovery from cancer I’ve learned to become more attentive. Take time to really communicate. Ask questions and then just shut up and let them talk as you listen and remember what is being said and try to hear what is not being said. I have a friend of mine from Peru who lives in Arizona. He taught me the most about listening that most people could stand to learn. Whenever we talked, his phone was either shut off or put on silent, the television was turned off and whatever he was doing or working on would be put aside so 100% of his attention was on the conversation. I think he learned this from his dad who is also a great listener. Do yourself a favor. When someone wants to talk turn everything off. Don’t answer the phone, read text or send text, scroll through Facebook or have the TV on. Be all there for the other person. Those you love are more important than what’s happening on TV. Just food for thought.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 00:16:32 +0000
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