I am retired. I have less time and I have more time. It's a gift that I don't take lightly. In my career I learned to be a strategic listener. Now I am learning to be a better empathetic listener. Perfected? Not by a long shot. But the gift of 'more time' is helping.
I have another thought on this, Scott. I don't think that I'm trying to be a better listener because I want to be remembered as being 'that sort of person'.
My motives are more immediate. I try to really hear people more because it feels good. I learn things I didn't know before. I see the sparkle in someone's eyes as they talk and it sends a jolt of serotonin through me. I notice how people gravitate toward me when they realize that I will really listen to them - and that feels good too.
I am retired. I have less time and I have more time. It's a gift that I don't take lightly. In my career I learned to be a strategic listener. Now I am learning to be a better empathetic listener. Perfected? Not by a long shot. But the gift of 'more time' is helping.
Love that framing of the gift of time, Heather. And how wonderful that you get to use it to be in service to others through empathetic listening.
I have another thought on this, Scott. I don't think that I'm trying to be a better listener because I want to be remembered as being 'that sort of person'.
My motives are more immediate. I try to really hear people more because it feels good. I learn things I didn't know before. I see the sparkle in someone's eyes as they talk and it sends a jolt of serotonin through me. I notice how people gravitate toward me when they realize that I will really listen to them - and that feels good too.
Is it selfish? I don't know.
But I'm going to keep doing it.