On Listening

Confusion, Frustration and Anger have seemed to be the dominant forces of late. I feel it everywhere. Within me, within the people closest to me and within our community in general. Everyone is tired, beat up and fed up. Covid & politics dominate everything from conversations to the news and everything else in between. It seems everyone is getting put into specific groups and the Idea of individualism is being thrown out with the bath water. Too many experts and not enough listeners. We are missing a whole entire world going by us because we are so preoccupied with noise of the people yelling the loudest. I was part of a conversation this weekend where everyone was talking about how little there really is to do. that you can't really go anywhere and enjoy what you used to do. I thought to myself how happy I am that the woods, the trails and mother nature are still and always have been my sanctuary. Peace can be found out there. Quiet can be found out there. Oneness can be found out there. Too many experts and not enough listeners.

There is a story of a woman in India who was upset that her son was eating too much sugar. No matter how much she chided him, he continued to satisfy his sweet tooth. Totally frustrated, she decided to take her son to see his great hero, Mahatma Gandhi.

She approached the great leader respectfully and said,

“Sir, my son eats too much sugar. It is not good for his health. Would you please advise him to stop eating it?” Gandhi listened to the woman carefully, turned, and spoke to her son,

“Go home and come back in two weeks.”

The woman was perplexed. She took the boy by the hand and went home.

Two weeks later, she returned, boy in hand. Gandhi motioned for them to come forward. He looked directly at the boy and said, “Boy, you should stop eating sugar. It is not good for your health.”

The boy nodded and promised he would not continue this habit any longer. The boy’s mother turned to Gandhi and asked, “Why didn’t you tell him that two weeks ago when I brought him here to see you?”

Gandhi smiled and said, “Mother, two weeks ago, I was still eating sugar myself.”

Have a great day and please spend some time listening