You Cannot Be Happy If You Do Not Listen

How Can You Know If You Do Not Listen

When your mind tells you what you are looking for is somewhere else, you will not see it where it is. Likewise, you will not know what a thing is if you expect it to look one way and it does not—it looks like something different. The question then is, is it the same thing. And, yes, as I am sure most of you have come to know, it can be this way with people, as well. But with people, we know they are the same because we cannot change who we are. We do change how we look and act.

Some things exist that we do not see. We cannot see what we do not know. We are not aware of: Never heard, seen, or conscious of in any way.  How would you know it when you saw it? An open mind wants to know. There is never so little time that you have no time to learn.

There are times when you may think wistfully of the past and entertain in your mind what is going to happen in the future. It is an urge to be where it is not possible for you to be. One time has passed, and the other is yet to come. The mind is focused where it should not. You can only get there from here, not from anywhere else the mind might be. There is not a thing the mind can do without you. We all should focus on that part of our lives we can do something about—today is that day. What you can do for the future is face it. For the past, we have what we have done. You learn from it.

The more you think of the past and future, the less time you have to think of the present. Do not concern yourself with time you no longer have and a place you cannot be. You should do all that you can, to do what you want, with the only time you have. Time for the past is no more. That time has been occupied. The future, when you get there, will be the present. You should not use the time you have where there is no way to measure. We travel in time, not past it. Nor can we go back to it. Our mind can go there, but we cannot. Of course, there is nothing wrong with reminiscing and thinking about some of the more positive times from the past. Either good thoughts or bad, you should always make the visit of short duration. It does no good to tarry.

The best way to reach your goals is by a step, by step process. There are only three different steps you can take to get there. They are the first, next and last. Going backward will not get you there unless you then go forward. And going sideways will only keep you on the level that you are on. You take the three steps to make it to where you want to go, a step at a time until you get there. This way you know how you got there and can go there again. And it will serve you well to reach your next goal. Any step skipped leaves a space where the step should be, and you will not know for sure how you got over it to the other side. And it is a place where you could easily stumble and fall.

The distance to our goals is not as important as the steps we take to get there. How we think our thoughts is what decides the path that we take as we journey through life.

When you think you have done all you can and know to do, there is still more thinking to do to be all that you can be. How can you ever know how much more you have to give? You cannot. It is simple; though, some will not see it because they are unwilling to believe it. You must believe it to see it. What do you believe? Anyone can see it if they listen. You have to listen to learn and learn to listen.  When we are born, we do not know how to listen. It is an acquired skill. You first hear, and then you listen. When you listen with purpose, you will feel the sound of your thoughts. Now that’s listening.

“Hearing Is Not Listening”

To hear is not to listen. It is not the same. It takes no effort to hear: If you want to hear or not. To hear is one of the senses. It is there by nature and has no on and off switch. To listen is not a sense it is a skill. If you want to listen, it must be what you want to do; you cannot listen against your will. You cannot listen while taking notes, playing with your phone or computer. The only thing that you can do when you listen is listen. The next best thing to listening, now, is to record what you hear to listen to later. Are you listening now? It is how you think.