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Do you listen?

“People don’t listen to understand. They listen to reply. The collective monologue is everyone talking and no one listening.”

Stephen Covey

Today I invite you to be with a form of this message from the late, Stephen Covey. First, personalize it like this:

“I don’t listen to understand. I listen to reply. In my conversations, everyone is talking and no one is listening.”

Then, walk through the conversations of your days, the relationships – intimate and casual, professional and not – and ask yourself:

What is true for me?
Where do I not listen?

From there, ask:

What am I missing out on?
What am I ready to change?

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What do you withhold?

“If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly find fault with, you will not do much.”

Lewis Carroll

That quote pretty much explains itself. What actions, beliefs, passions, relationships can you imagine where no one on this planet would disagree or find some fault with? Yet, wasn’t Galileo hanged for beliefs which were later embraced by all?

I wonder:

What limitations have you embraced in order to avoid rejection?
In what ways are you NOT you?
What are you withholding from future generations?

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Be willing to be used…

Today’s message to self:

Be willing to be used; mine is not to figure out how.

For me, this means that I am to be here now and not worry about the big picture. Live this moment – play fully on the playing board of my life. Invest the energy of me in the people and activities that are present now.

Does this mean I never plan, never vision, never pause to see if I am “on track”? No, it doesn’t. There is value in having a map and setting in motion the steps that will move us in the general direction of our dreams, vision, the purpose for our lives. Life is lived, however, in this moment – and this one. Dreams unfold a moment at a time. Opportunities show up in the moments.

What is the playing board of your life?
What are you missing in the moments?
What will you fully invest in today?

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What sprouts from the seed of you?

Here’s a question from a new inspiration card that hit me this morning:

What sprouts from the seed of you?

Think about it. The seed totally decomposes so its DNA can manifest as something that looks entirely different. If we use the seed metaphor and let ourselves sprout, what WILL we look like? What will we become? What fruit will we bear? Will we be a shade tree? Who will be nourished by our presence?

Imagine, who you are, how you look, what you do, all that is part of your life to-date, is but the seed for what is yet to sprout.

What is blocking total decomposition?
What is your shell made of?
What water, sunshine, nutrients are feeding you now?
How willing are you to be seed?

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Be Thoughtless …

What? Be thoughtless? This, from Jeanne whose writing is ever inviting you into deeper thought and thinking about life in different ways?

Yes. Today the message is:

Be thoughtless … and, therefore, mindful

Mindful. No, I didn’t say “mind full”. I said, mindful. Present. Aware. Engaged with this now moment. Engaged from body, emotion, spirit so as to let the the actual experience you are in have an impact and truly be registered in your being. Be with what is … rather than with what you think is, assume will be, or prejudged it to be. Be with what is … rather than what your mind is conjuring up as a response.

Rather than ask you questions today, I have a challenge for you. Today, pick someone (or more than one!) you encounter and invite them into the practice of thoughtless conversation. After “hello” and before you continue to talk, explain this notion of thoughtless, therefore mindful and see if they are willing to be there with you. Note: If they aren’t, you can still be there! But find another person before the day is out, okay?

Then, come back here and post your experience of thoughtless. What will we discover?