Listening Skills. Awake. Awoke.

The Snooze Button.

Five more minutes.😴

To wake.

To face the day.

The real day.

Another day.

Dreamland slowly leaving unconsciousness.

Consciousness taking hold.

Now. The now.

Had an awakening.

Fogginess, sleepiness slowing fading away too.

Clarity.

Clarity creates unity of effort in our work and our relationships with others. Whenever clarity is not present, consequences usually are. (dk)

Through repetition, through stories, through sender, receiver. To communicate effectively, the sender must be able to communicate effectively. To frame the message in a way that will transcend barriers. Transcend the barriers to communication and the limitations. We all have them. Limitations.(dk)

Like. Can’t do it.

I cannot face the day.

Hit the snooze button again.

Five more minutes.

Thinking all the while: What do I want to say? How do I best say it? What do I do?

Words. Deeds. Actions.

Action=Hit the snooze button.🫤

That is a start. A slow start. But a start nonetheless.

Reach for phone?

Reach for the light?

Reach for the side of the bed.

To pull oneself up.

Feeling ready to prop oneself up. Baby steps. But steps nonetheless.

Feeling the boulder, the chip, the barrier right away. Yep.

Lay back down to hit the snooze button?

Hopefully not. But hope nonetheless.

Snooze button engaged.

Prop self up again.

Look around.

It is quite quiet.

Not sure yet whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. But a thing nonetheless.

Feeling that barrier again. And notice the head start to pound. The heart too. What barriers to communication are present. In this quite quiet room of mine. The quiet would prove to facilitate the message—wouldn’t it? ‘Cept I can’t bring myself to say it. In a manner that can be understood.

Don’t wanna seem weak. Wimpy. Not strong.

A glance over to the snooze button…Just a glance nonetheless.

Brining self back to reality. Legs dangling off the side of the bed. A scan of the room. A mind scan of the day ahead. A bit of dread. A bit of excitement. Decisions. Choices. Work to do. There are and can be numerous barriers. To communication that we can run into when trying to communicate clearly.

We make hundreds of decisions in a day. Focus may be one of the barriers. Other barriers may include age, gender, position, physical size or presence, physical distance, culture and even language.(dk)

Heavy sigh and a plop back down to hit the snooze button.

Like. can’t do it.

I cannot face the day.

Maybe it’s the class clown, jokester, bully, ball hog. Just can’t do it. The lunch room and playground are oftentimes where the action really is. The serious pecking orders, the serious competition. The last bag of tater tots.

Add to the mix the age differences, communication becomes an intimidating verbal dodge ball game throughout the day. Larger or louder people tend to have the upper hand. Mind wanders to the fact that I prefer not to be squashed like a bug today. Position is always easy to see. Larger or louder people…….dread. Why do Inalways feel like I am looking up at the other kids.

Fourth snooze button goes off. Maybe it’s the third. Lost count. Time to get up.

Drag self around a bit. Thinking I will just stuff the feelings down and head on out. Of the room. Time ticks….The barrier to communication is one of the most prevalent. We are less likely to communicate as effectively with the people we report to—parents, guardians, teachers, bosses, because we are worried—about how we will or may be perceived. (dk)

Send a note? Send a message. Phone a friend? Read the paper. See what’s up. How is the weather. What to wear. What to eat. Have used my allotted snooze button options for today. So best to forge ahead.

Made it out of my room and am still not sure how. Next thing I know, I am on the first of the battle ground locations for the day. The playground. Either I attempt to join the game with the ball hog, or start my own game with “my ball”. Ugh. First competition of the day begins and it is between waking up and when first period actually begins.

It is gonna be a long day.

We haven’t been here is a long while. Bug fixed us all to shelter in place. Physical interaction requires of us to physically interact. Observe even. Listen loudly, listen intently. Listen boldly. Sadly, though. We are all not the good listeners we may think we are. Sometimes our brains are rather busy, rigid even.

How to make it through this day. Focus. Focus on the message sender, make a mental movie in our head about the story.

Rule of thumb: Humility. ‘ Cept it is not always easy to join the ball hog game. So many wannabes, so little time. The bell is about to ring, and haven’t even thrown a ball once.

It has been a long time since we all have been on the playground, what with the bug, lockdowns and all. Face to face is the most beneficial and effective communication—tone of voice, body language, rapid communication stuff. Factors may include physical distance and time sensitivity. Throw the ball. Catch the ball. Seems simple enough..Natural even. Except dangers may lurk around, every corner, every door.

Dangers of transmission compound dramatically. Inflection, attitude, intention, interpretation. All lost. Decoding the message is half the battle…..and think the snooze button knows this.

There are a lot of components that tie into listening. Listening seldom occurs when angry, the want to punish instead of help, unwillingness to suspend opinion, the want or need to give direct advice, in a hurry and don’t explore what the other may be saying, not willing to serve, worst of all— make it about you.(dk)

Really. All I want at this moment is someone to play catch with. How else will I show my stuff, on the playground competition of life here before the first bell rings.

Well.

Someone heard.

We are playing catch.

Don’t even know the kids name, but when I dropped the ball, he picked it up, smiled and threw it back to me. We are engaged in a game of catch, thus the whole day is not a total waste so far. We nodded as we parted ways. I hope I see him again, I thought. Until then, time to battle the voices in the hallways…

We did not even say a word, me and the kid who played catch with me, not a verbal word to one another anyway. 😀 For some reason, though, I kinda like him. This part of the morning turned out ok. The halls and the trek from door to door, will be another story…..

Until then.

I humbly vow to focus with curiosity on my skills. All my skills. Especially my listening skills. Eyes, ears, my whole head and rest of me, too. Hey, it’s just how I roll. I will not be denied as the man of action that I am.