Giving Value To Another's Words

One of the greatest gifts you can give someone...is to really listen to what he or she is telling you...and respond to it...based
on what you've heard. Most likely...we have all experienced the dissatisfaction of talking to someone...and having had what
we have said...brushed aside by the person we are trying to communicate with. This leaves you with the feeling that what
you have said...hasn't been actknowledged...or even worse...has been devalued by the person it was addressed to. If this is
done to you by the same person...many times in a row...the result can sometimes be clamming up in their presence...with
the potential for a fecund interaction between yourself and that person...becoming "withered on the vine". Usually...it is
the "devaluer"...so embedded in his or her world...and speaking endlessly from it.,.that leaves no space for considering what
someone has just said...and responding to it in a thoughtful or supportive way. Sometimes...there is a response...but it might
seem so shallow...insincere...humouring...or automatic...that it also results in a dissonant feeling when it happens to you.
Listening to others...then responding thoughtfully or with empathy...seems to be a secret that eludes a lot of people. If the
truth be known...attention to this aspect of life...can sometimes result in friendships being born...or instead of in its absence
causing dissonance...become a gentling and warming force...in the midst of the hardships and unsatisfactory interactions
we experience...on our human journey........................Quester.