It was weird listening for a while and being mindful of thoughts and responses but not jumping into the conversation with questions. My friend and I found it unnatural not having an instant exchange in the convo and only having one person talking so long. However I did find that using the “listening” technique and giving my friend my full attention, I retained a lot of the message she was conveying, there was less selective listening. We both agreed that soft skills in the workspace was important and how having better listening and communication skills is beneficial.
Listening, definitely listening. I have a terrible habit of jumping into conversation and cutting people short to ask questions and sometimes this and lead the speaker astray from the original message they want to get across. So I will practise listening and just slightly acknowledge without interjecting. That I can hold any questions or musings until the speaker is finished before I ask them.
This week’s reading was really interesting. It touched on the idea of the journey of getting to a state where we can mindfully meditate without it feeling like a chore and that’s something I can really relate to. Right now, I find that I forget to meditate or make time and when I finally do, my attention strays very easily and I feel like I’m not making any progress. This week really taught that me everyone experiences this and eventually we will reach a moment when it becomes habitual so even if we are stumbling now or feel that we are not practising correctly, not to fret because it’s all part of the process.