Listening.?

Ever wondered why the Human body has a pair of ears and one mouth?

If we were to look more closely, we would notice that everything in the body is in pairs – hands, legs, ears, eyes, with one exception – the mouth. The nose also has a pair of nostrils.!

This fact has intrigued me for quite sometime, and I have been trying to understand the purpose of this exception. The complex organism that the Human body is, this exception to the rule could not just be accidental. There had to be a rule to this exception... A deliberate design by nature.

My quest was to find this rule to the exception... The purpose of the design and the reasons behind this peculiarity. The best way was to look at Nature itself and solve the puzzle. 

Nature has myriad ways in which it give subtle messages to the ever probing Human Mind. There is always an impetus behind the scheme of nature, and we have numerous studies that support the impeccable designs... The key to this mystery also lies in one of nature’s ways - getting back to basics.

Let’s say we have one computer to do our work. If the work increases, and the current resources are not capable of handling the task, we need to increase the capacity. If the work doubles, we double the capacity and so on. In essence, 2 computers would do 2 times the work of a single machine.

Pretty straightforward.

Coming back to our original question – why do we have two ears and one mouth? Using the resource-capacity analogy - our ears are meant to do two times as much work as our mouth.!

Simple isn’t it?

Nature “demands” that we should listen twice as much as we talk. We were designed with this intent and it is prescribed upon us to follow the directive.

Sounds nice.?

In theory.!

Does it work in real life? Do we do it? Nope.!

The species that we are, we talk. A lot.

We just LOVE to talk, whether or not the occasion demands it. After some research and deliberation over the numerous studies, it boiled down to one very simple but convincing fact. We talk not because we love to talk, but more so because we love to listen to our own voice.! We adore the sound of our voices and it is the most pleasing reverberation.

This needs to change. We have to deliberately begin to Listen to what others have to say and control the urge to grab an opening to speak up. Consciously decide to shut-up and talk only when there is a mandate, and only as much as needed.

In principle, Halve the talking and Double the listening.

Literally.!

To be able to understand and communicate effectively, we must use our ears twice as much as our mouth. We must listen to our friends and the people who matter, attentively, with focus on what is being said rather than seeking an opportunity to say what we think is right.

One of the biggest secrets of success is to be able to effectively and actively listen. Thoughtfully and wholly understand the speakers' point of view. 

Hearing is a physical attribute most of us are blessed with. Listening, on the other hand, is more a state of mind, where we are actively engaged in what the other person is saying, acknowledge and grasp the message. Doing this would solve 99% of the problems in ones life.!

Listening matters. A lot. So let’s make an honest effort, this day on, to listen to people who matter, attentively.

Listen.

        Understand.

                                     Act.

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