HAVE YOU TRULY BEEN LISTENED TO LATELY?

Don't you just wonder sometimes if you are invisible in this world?  Do feel like sometimes no one is actually listening to you?

There are times when I find the courage to really say what is on my mind and I look at the person I am talking to and they are looking at their phones, or around the room.  I don't even know if they realize how rude they are, or the impact they are having on me...  

I didn't even know what it was like to be really listened to until I was in my twenties!  The first time I actually experienced someone listening to me, it was absolutely shocking to me.   I was having a conversation with a young guy that I had just met and he asked me a question, then leaned in.  I actually pulled back -- honestly, I had never experienced this before.  It was then that I realized that this had been missing from most of my life!! 

I get it, we are all busy, but from that one experience, I can tell you that it is wonderful to know that the person you are talking to is actually listening.  This one conversation helped me in my career in human resources.  I tried to make sure I leaned in to listen to anyone who came to talk to me.  I didn't have to have all the answers for them.  For the most part, they just wanted to say whatever was on their mind and be heard.