Often I find myself looking at my phone, perhaps thinking of something else or many times thinking about my reply when someone is talking to me.
I’m not listening, although, we think that is listening, because that’s normal behaviour for most of us. We are thinking about our agenda.
However, for the person talking, it can lead them to think that you aren’t listening and you don’t care about what they have to say. The feel invisible.
One of the greatest things we can give to our fellow humans is conscious listening.
That means that all we are doing is listening to their words and engaging with them and actually looking them straight in the eye. We are paying attention to them and their words.
This this helps to make the other person feel seen and understood, which is something we all seek
True listening is an act of pure love for another.
An imperfect sketch of the Gustav Eiffel bridge in Porto
I’ve got a sore hand at the moment and I have been now, and in the past, using such situations as an excuse not to do something.
For example, I’ve been wanting to restart my blogging, but I have told myself it will have to wait until my hand is better.
The fact is, I can always type one-handed or I can do what I’m doing now and that’s dictating it and then copy, and post it to my blog site.
Our mind will sabotage anything and it’s up to us, our true self, to choose to simply witness our thoughts rather than become them.
Of course the dictation thing is not perfect, but who needs perfect? Well, I’ll tell you who needs perfect…our mind.
The mind uses perfection as an excuse not to do something we will say things like ‘oh it’s not gonna be perfect, so I’m not going to do it’.
Additionally, no one likes perfect. We prefer imperfections as it’s the crack that lets the light in.
Perfect doesn’t exist anyway because the moment you perfect something there will always be a step beyond that, another level of perfection to achieve. Exhausting isn’t it?
Perfection just keeps us trying harder, working harder, being good boys and girls, going to work, doing our thing, paying our taxes, taking on more stuff at work, until we reach this Nirvana of perfection. Then it will all be ok, but it won’t because you can’t ever reach it.
If instead we can embrace imperfection. We become happy knowing it won’t be perfect then that removes the pressure, takes away the excuses and allows us to do work free. Pressure is what kills our work with overthinking, complicating, and fear. It all comes from trying to be perfect.
No one wants perfect they want our imperfections that creates the things we love the most.
That’s today’s blog done, no excuses and it’s not perfect.
Philip Dodson 