Listen Louder

A man realized he needed to purchase a hearing aid, but he felt unwilling to spend much money. 'How much do they run?' he asked the clerk.

'That depends,' said the salesman. 'They run from $2.00 to $2,000.'
'Let's see the $2.00 model,' he said.

The clerk put the device around the man's neck. 'You just stick this button in your ear and run this little string down to your pocket,' he instructed.

'How does it work?' the customer asked.

'For $2.00 - it doesn't work,' the salesman replied. 'But when people see it on you, they'll talk louder!'

As you know, our communication problems are not due to people talking too softly. Unfortunately, we are not always good listeners. Do you know that people will pay hundreds of dollars an hour for no other reason than to have someone listen to them? Psychologist Carl Rogers said, 'A person's real need, a most terrible need, is for someone to listen . . . not as a 'patient' but as a human soul.'

To listen well is to respond to a great human yearning. One small child put it like this: 'I'll try to listen louder.'

What could happen if you 'listened louder' today?

-- Steve Goodier