Listening: An Overlooked Skill

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” — Bryant H. McGill.

Listening is an art. It is a skill that not so many people possess. The world around us is filled with noises coming from different angles; screeching of tires, honking of cars, market women advertising their products on the top of their voices, machines working tirelessly. It is so easy to get lost and trapped in all this noise. But only if we can listen, then we will be able to focus on what truly matters. Not everyone who understands or has the ability to hear words possess the art of listening. There's a big difference between hearing words and listening. Listening requires a good level of understanding and patience.

The topic for today’s Hive Learners’ prompt is “THE ART OF LISTENING.” Have you ever discovered the value of listening? Do you have people around you who actually listen to the things you say? About 2 years ago, I lacked the art of listening. Even now, I still have a lot of things to work on. I am a work in progress, but I am glad things are better now. Back, I cared less about what people really had to say, I was more concerned about sharing my own opinions and thoughts. Most of the conversations I had with people, I find myself always trying to prove a point or defend an already established point.

I wasn't just confident. I was over confident and that stemmed from the many books I read and things I had in my head. I was so proud and foolish. Before I gained admission into the university, I spent more than a whole year consuming knowledge from different sources. I read books, both African and non-Acrican books. I expanded my vocabulary. I watched YouTube videos about so many things around the world. I felt like I knew everything in the world and even when it came to subjects that weren’t my field, I would at least have an idea. I walked around with that mentality.

Whenever I got into conversation with people, I was always trying to show them how knowledgeable I am in that field. Sometimes, I found myself correcting people in their field. For example, even though I had never studied law, I found myself correcting a law student on something about law just because I had watched a video or read a thing or two about that particular thing. I rarely listened. Well, most times, conversations would lead to arguments and I would win. Soon enough, I got the title “Mr Right” from a friend. I believe that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I realized I wasn’t just proud, I was also being foolish, so I started to talk less and listen more.

When I started to listen more, I realized that people are actually smart and knowledgeable. Compared to them, I know so little. All I had to do was allow them to speak and not try to prove a point even when I didn’t agree with them.

As I mentioned earlier, I am still a work in progress. I have realized that whenever people do something or share their opinion about something that I totally don't agree with, I find myself using this phrase “it doesn’t make sense.” Instead of outrightly dismissing their opinions, I should try to understand them and listen more.

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Thanks for reading.