The Art of Listening

Once, an anonymous writer said: "They gave us two ears but only one mouth because listening is twice as hard as talking."
To have an effective interpersonal skills, one should know to communicate. Good communication is more than knowing how to express our thoughts, feelings and opinions. In fact, this is only half the process. Listening and understanding is the other half of the course requirement for interpersonal effectiveness.

Listening is actually attentive audience. We could learn a lot just by listening. And the ability to actively listen can improve relationships, because it promotes the understanding that would reduce conflicts and enhance cooperation. Science hearing showed that the modality of the language most commonly used is listening and nearly half the airtime is devoted to an adult to attend to what others say.

A transmitter, a receiver and a message: they are the basic components of listening. A shipper may be a person, or equipment (like TV, radio or other device that shows the progress in hearing science) that transmits a message to the receiver, which is the listener. The receiver must interpret the messages as they come and must cope with the rate of delivery, choice of words and structure of the grammar of the sender. The messages sent by the president are always an incorporeal substance, it is essential to become an active listener, to understand this information.

So how do we listen?

1. 100% attention. Listening is not as important to how we listen. We must devote our full attention to what others say. It is difficult to understand others if we are talking at the same time or if we do something while listening. While listening, start with an open mind. This could allow us to really focus and concentrate on others' posts. In addition, you must know to be careful to keep in mind and logical content of the object. This is done by listening to emotions rather than words to have a deeper understanding to what others say.

Relations: Learning to Love

Love seems to be the logical starting point. Though not synonymous, love and marriage are nevertheless very much interrelated and are generally thought of together. Marriage is the natural consummation of love interests. Love is the magnet that brings people together and the cement that holds them together; it is the most essential element in pair unity.

Yet there are perhaps few concepts so misunderstood and abused. In the name of love people sometimes flounder, when they could have intelligent direction; dissipate, when their energies could be spent constructively; exploit, when they could, and should, cooperate. Some people regard love as a blind force that can be neither understood nor controlled. Others see it as an excuse for indulgence or for the satisfying of narrow self-interest. Only a few, relatively speaking, learn the full meaning of the term and are able to use well the full power that love provides.

Nature and Function of Love

Love might be simply defined as any sentiment of attachment that is centered upon any person or thing; it is a pleasurable feeling, in other words, and it is directed toward some object. The love object might be entirely nonmaterial, as when we say that one loves some standard, principle, or cause that he shows a strong devotion for; he can love democracy, for example, or peace, or the Christian Church. Similarly it can be said that one loves a certain type of activity such as swimming, reading, or listening to musical concerts.

Again, the love object might be material though nonhuman, as when we say that one loves ice cream, or new hats, or horses. Finally, the love object might be a human personality. There are many varieties of this latter also: there is self-love; there are filial and parental loves; there are friendships everywhere, regardless of age, sex, or social relationships; and there is the sweetheart love of courtship and marriage. Broadly considered, love exists whenever and wherever people obtain satisfactions from the objects and the activities that attract them.

It is to the narrower usage of the term, to sweetheart love, that attention is now being turned. Though love is of many types, it is only that which relates to marriage that will concern us here.