Listen to Listen *Not to Respond*
🌟Weekly Inspiration🌟
It’s so challenging to be a good listener!
As parents (and with our partners), emotions can run high—and it’s more common to be half-listening and formulating our rebuttal as the other person speaks. Some situations call for a response….some situations might go more smoothly with active listening and a limited response.
What might it feel like to your child for you to stop everything and listen? Without judgment, distraction, criticism, fear, control, or the need to be right? What if you took the time to really hear them, even if you disagreed and ultimately would have to take another stance? What might it feel like for them to be acknowledged, heard, and accepted in that moment for expressing something?
Ask Yourself:
Do I listen for the sake of listening? How attuned am I with my loved ones?
Why do I feel the need to respond all the time? What is the underlying fear?
Could I listen first and discuss later? Could I buy time and tell them I’d like to think about it and then discuss later?
Could I repeat back to them what I hear them saying and see if I get it correct?
What would it be like to say, “Wow, I hear you. That sounds tough.”
What if I slowed down, and felt less urgency to speak “at" my child all the time?
What would the impact of my modeling active listening have on their future listening skills when they are parents someday?
Be well ⭐