To Know What You Hear You Must Listen

You Can Hear But Not Listen

Just as you can look but not see, you can hear and not listen. You first hear, and then you listen. When you listen, you feel the sound of your thoughts and know precisely what is said. Nothing will be filtered by emotion. To hear is not to listen. It is not the same. It takes no effort to hear. This is if you want to or not. To hear is one of the senses. It is there by nature and has no on and off switch. When you focus on what you hear, you will listen.

Hearing is the ability to perceive sound with our ears. I will not spell out the whole process, but the ears do this by detecting vibrations. When an object makes a noise, it sends vibrations (better known as sound waves) speeding through the air. Sound may be heard through solid, liquid, or gaseous matter, as well as anger, fear, happiness and pleasure. There are times when you may hear things even when you rather not. I am leaving you. I have found someone else. The thrill is gone. You are fired. And there are other times when what you want to hear you never do. I love you, yes, yes, yes. You make me feel so good. Please, don’t stop now you are the best.

What you hear can deceive you, just as when you see an object, person or thing and realize upon closer inspection that it is not what you believed it to be. This is never so evident that when a lover, husband or wife says, “I love you” when all along they are making love to someone else. To take it a step further to a place no one wants to be is when a person hears what is not being said. The need to hear what you want to hear will cause you to change the meaning of the sound of the words being spoken. You can turn and run, as fast as you can from what is real, but it will not change a thing. If he does not want you anymore, and she is telling you that she has someone else, it will be the same no matter what you allow yourself to hear. The mind is a terrible thing when it works against you.

There are times when someone will say something to you and they do not want you to listen. They only want you to hear, this is so that they can confuse you later when you tell them what they said. What you hear then, is, I did not say that, I did not say it like that or even, that is not what I meant. Our lives are shaped by how well we know how to listen. Just because you can hear does not mean you are going to listen. We hear with our ears, but we listen with our mind. The words begin to sink in. It is then that you are focused. You are there. And you will see what they really mean when they say the things that they do.

There is a time to listen. There is a time to think. There is a time to talk. Listen, think, and then talk, to know when it is your time is what determines the outcome. These are the things you must know for knowledge to flow. It is the best way to have give and take. All will have a chance to express their thoughts. It works best when one talks and one listens. The key is to know when it is your turn. When you listen, you do that, not a thing more. We do this when our mind tells us to. This is how you think what is being said. First, though, you have to be where you need be to hear what is being said.

You cannot be sure of what you have heard if you have not listened. As a result, what you say may not be what you mean. Because you did not hear, what you thought you heard. You can talk and hear at the same time but you will not be listening. If you try, it would be like trying to think two thoughts at the same time. Neither one can be done. Our mind moves to what we are thinking of. There is no dual track for how we think. And a thought will not divide. It is just as no two words can be said, and no two objects can occupy, the same space, at the same time.

You have to be prepared to learn. You must learn how to listen and listen to learn. You have to listen to what you read, listen to what is said to you, and listen to your Self if you want to learn. When we are born, we do not know how to listen. It is an acquired skill. You must have a deep sense of purpose and a strong drive to learn. Not just hear what is said or what you read. When you listen, what you hear has your undivided attention. In so many ways, it is much like meditation. What we listen to can be calming when we feel it; of course, it can be quite disturbing, it depends on what you have to listen to. You have to want more out of what you hear to listen. Until you do, you will just hear. That certainly could be all you want to do.

I cannot say it too many times, our lives are shaped by how well we know how to listen. Just because you can hear does not mean you are going to listen. We hear with our ears, but we listen with our mind. The words begin to sink in. You are focused. You are there, in the moment. And it is then that you know what the words really mean when we say the things that we do.

You cannot be sure of what you have heard if you have not listened. As a result, what you say may not be what you mean. You can talk and hear at the same time but you will not be listening. If you try, it would be like trying to think two thoughts at the same time. Neither one can be done. Your mind moves to what you are thinking of. There is no dual track for how we think. And a thought will not divide. It is just as two words cannot be said at the same time.