The need for more,the lack of contentment, the hoarding mentality the greed of the times we live in, the desire to possess for the sake of simply owning better than the best, than for any use, the brand consciousness for all that overmarketed hype in the name of fashion, the feeling of never having enough …all amounts to a lack of real value for anything we truly have … the sad truth of times indeed that calls for awakening before it is too late.
When our individual insatiable expressions of life in the living take flights of fancy without any heed, we need a reconsideration of the ramifications.
Until the value of the bigger picture is seen through the heart rather than immediate gains which can be self anihilating it is an uphill task at hand.
And that is when a need for responsive change through transformations are the call of the moment across the world. Then it is the play of balance, of proportions and disproportions that the self creates, adjusts and develops as per the needs of the times hopefully.
Till then we can try our best to take one step ahead in time with responsibility and accountability.
The first lesson
Nature is patient and never in a hurry
All takes its course in time
As a blooming bud
As a fragile flower
You cannot force them to flower
Patience and perseverance is the key
Nature is abundant
It gives and receives
The beauty of nature
The fruits of nature
Is its gift.
It bears much too
Nature is full of resilience
Teaching lessons of living
So full of grace and dignity
And yet…
The third lesson
Nature balances itself
Time to time
When life gets too tilted
Nature plays on
Its courses through
And unearths its fury too!
Never tamper with nature
For nature exacts much
Unleashing its wrath
To beget its equilibrium
Treat nature well
Both inner and outer
For every thing is part of nature
And nature will thrive.
Giving your attention without fear or favour and caring to understand what another is saying, before responding says a lot about the person who is listening…
Here is a true incident…
Viktor Frankl, one of the great psychiatrists of the twentieth century, survived the death camps of Nazi Germany. His little book, Man’s Search for Meaning , is one of those life-changing books that everyone should read.
Frankl once told the story of a woman who called him in the middle of the night to calmly inform him she was about to commit suicide. Frankl kept her on the phone and talked her through her depression, giving her reason after reason to carry on living. Finally she promised she would not take her life, and she kept her word.
When they later met, Frankl asked which reason had persuaded her to live?
“None of them”, she told him.
What then influenced her to go on living, he pressed?
Her answer was simple, it was Frankl’s WILLINGNESS TO LISTEN to HER in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
A world in which there was SOMEONE ready to listen to another’s pain seemed to her a world in which it was worthwhile to live.
Often, it is not the brilliant argument that makes the difference. Sometimes the small act of LISTENING is the GREATEST GIFT we can GIVE.
How can we choose to listen well?
What are the barriers to effective listening? How can we improve our listening abilities.
A few issues in listening well….or what is called Ineffective listening.
Distraction caused by the difference between speaking and thinking speeds in humans. So if the speaker speaks too slowly or too fast, the listeners may lose the plot.
At times the appearance or personality quirks or the environment changes can create distractions.
Distraction also causes the listener to show a lack of interest through body language like in posture of loss of eye contact.
Overcoming distractions requires keeness to improve and interest in personal development as much as a sense of commitment to the task at hand.
Here are a 5 tips for improving listening skills.
1. Restating . Pay full attention so as to be able to restate or paraphrase in your own words every once in a while, what it is that you have heard so as to make the speaker feel listened to.
2 Prompting . Use short and positive prompts by interjecting them in the pauses … to show interest like .. And then ? So ?or I know…
3.Validating .Express your empathy . Show that you understand what another is saying or going through. Acknowledge the issues faced by another or the feelings as they are speaking. It shows you are sincere in your concern.
4.Pausing . Allow for some gaps in the conversation.. it helps buy time to think for both the speaker and the listener . As it helps process the information. Silences are great tools to let go the unnecessary gibberish and loose-ended talks which may be counter- productive.
5.Shifting . Redirecting a speaker when needed by shifting the topic gradually changes the tone of the discussion which can at times get too aggressive or violent for comfort.
There are so many ways that develops the GIFT OF LISTENING .
Have also found that in practise, the art of listening well involves all of our senses.
After all the art of a great conversation lies in the ability to listen keenly and respond well than simply react.
Savvy
Personally speaking I have often been a good listener… yet I must confess that there are a few close friends to whom I have spoken who are such great listeners that they put me at ease.
It is truly wonderful to be listened to as much as to listen. There is so much healing in the listening as much as in the sharing. I take this opportunity to thank those friends and readers who cared to give me a listening ear and time.🙏
Your true source strength in every living moment!
Friends and families are your circles of protection
What is family?
Relationships that bond through a lifetime
Through the winds of changes
In hopes and hurt
In challenges and conflicts
In confusion and chaos
In the circumstances and consequences…
Healing and helping
Caring and consoling
Being there throw the thick and thin
In support and encouragement
Amidst the pain and pleasures
Of life and living
Families and friends are strength giving
Value and nourish them
Through attention and time.
For only they will stand the test of time
In moments of despair desperation.
And after all what use is happiness With no one to partake the joy?
Keep your friend and families close to your heart.
A Father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world. He tore it into pieces and asked her to go to her room and put them together to make the map again.
He was sure she would take the whole day to get it done. But the little one came back within minutes with perfect map……When he asked how she could do it so quickly, she said, “Oh…. Dad, there is a man’s face on the other side of the paper….. I made the face perfect to get the map right.” She ran outside to play leaving the father surprised.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
There is always the other side to whatever you experience in this world. Whenever we come across a challenge or a puzzling situation, look at the other side…. You will be surprised to see an easy way to tackle the problem.
A few musings…
The difference between just looking and seeing is so much in the depth and dimension of expansions in our flow of thoughts .An expansion in our acceptability and flexibility changes the seemingly complex situations to simple solutions .:)
If eyes could speak
They would say a thousand words
May be more
Yes eyes speak more than words can tell
Have you seen eyes up close
They say much more
There is defiance denial
Hurt and humility
Fear and pain
Sadness and confusion
Longing for approval
And anguish of anxiety
There is judgement and approval
Brazeness and courage
Hope and trust
Mystic and magic
Enigma so magnetic
And yet there is also
Surprise and innocence
Charm and grace
Kindness and Generosity
A Light of Love
For life and living.
Waltz of the Eyes indeed! Speaking much without words that portrays the undeniable truths of life .
How much life experiences can speak through these windows of our soul! Check it for yourself … so much to read in there. May be you can see much more ….do share!
Savvy
Thank you dear Efi for mentioning Stavros and this beautiful lilting music…’Waltz of the Eyes’ in my earlier post.This waltz is truly bewitching! 💙💙💙
It is Monday morning and a start to a new week! Here is a beautiful story share.
Sunflowers 🌻 turn according to the position of the sun, in other words, they “chase the light.” You might already know this, but there is another fact that you probably do not know!
Have you ever wondered what happens on cloudy, rainy days when the sun is completely covered by clouds?🤔
This is an interesting question, isn’t it?
Perhaps you think the sunflower withers or turns its head towards the ground. Is this what crossed your mind?
Well, that’s incorrect!
This is what happens?
They turn towards each other to share their energy.🌻🌻
Nature’s perfection is amazing; now let’s apply this reflection to our lives. We all want this light and seek it in different ways: in our family, friends, religion, work and so on. But there are always going to be cloudy days, gloomy days, because there is no escaping them!
When this happens, most people become overwhelmed, low-spirited, and the most vulnerable ones, some-times, become depressed.How about following the example of the beautiful sunflowers 🌻 supporting and em-powering each other. Nature has so much to teach us.
Wishing everyone a “Sun flower”🌻 trait of turning towards each other on their cloudy and gloomy days.
Reading this story drew me to another fascinating aspect so visible in the sunflowers. The mathematical order of their spirals, that continue to mystify us in all their glory.
Here is an interesting explanation for such a phenomenon.
Truly are many aspects to the ordinary… and yet simplicities of harmony in the very complexities and chaos of life and living.
Savvy Raj 