The topic of todays blog is a little more… let’s say article oriented. What I mean by that is it’s a little more formal and thought out than, for example, a post I previously made about riding my bicycle very close to freshmen new to university life with the hopes of startling them. This I need to clarify is 100% true, I do this on purpose, and because I think the more students I terrify the higher the number of dropouts will climb and the less competition I will have to face for a career position in the future (you see this is all very thought out).
But I digress. Today I want to talk about listening. You see, I have this problem. When I listen to people, sometimes I rarely listen at all, instead I am largely concerned with something else. That thing being how they judge my reactions to what they are saying. This is, in fact, a terrible habit to develop and if you find yourself saying “yeah I do that too sometimes” hurry to your nearest mirror and take a long look at yourself and ask the question “How do I want to be remembered when the day comes that I inevitably leave this world forever”. Do this and you might be saved.
Why do people feel the need to care so much of how they react to something to the point that it overshadows what the content of the thing itself to which they are reacting? Perhaps ask yourself that one if you’ve found it to be true, and if not then carry on with your order of a double vodka redbull I do not care.
I still have engaging conversations with people, and this haunting dilemma only occurs to me every once in a while when I’ve been especially superficial in my life, but it occurred to me that this has been happening lately so it’s equal parts a recent development as it is a past one. I mean it’s been going on and it’s also going on right now. I hope writing about it helps me to remember that I shouldn’t do it as much. The same way we hope praying will remind us to be a better person or writing down our manifestations will make them come true. I’m not blaspheming, these are excellent techniques for developing some sort of self-awareness. I just hope the same works for me with this problem.
I know firsthand what it’s like to pretend to be something your not for the hopes of pleasing the person that’s right in front of you.