Am I Listening?

Communication requires listening. Listening requires setting aside our own agendas. There is a time for evaluating agendas, the passions of our lives, the messages we desperately desire to communicate to others. There is a time for evaluating the agendas for importance, validity, and urgency. We should be careful not to lose sight of our agendas once we have determined they are worthwhile. But even the most important, urgent, and valid agendas must be set aside in order to fully listen. Because only by truly listening do we earn the right to be heard.

RoseDQ (January 13, 2009)