HOW WELL DO YOU LISTEN?

Studies show we forget 50 percent of what we hear immediately, 80 percent within a day, and 97 percent within a week. So what's the solution?

When you listen, make understanding your goal, not just remembering facts. Great learners are great listeners; that's why they always have a flow of fresh ideas. The truth is, you'll never know how close you are to a breakthrough or a blessing until you learn to listen. Be honest. How often have you said you're going to spend more time listening to the people in your life who matter? Start doing it, because if you don't show up for life's "special moments," before you know it there will be none left to show up for. The people who really listen to us become the most important people in our lives. If you want to be one of them, you must do three things:

1. Look directly at the speaker. Don't belittle someone by catching up on work, talking on the phone, or tweeting and texting while they're talking. Focus on them.

2. Don't interrupt. When you do that, people think you don't place much value on what they're saying. Or that you're trying to impress them with how much you know. Or you're too excited by what you have to add to the conversation to let them finish.

3. Suspend your judgement. Wait to hear the whole story before you respond. If you don't, chances are you'll miss the most important things the speaker has to say.

Can you think of anyone you haven't been listening to lately? The good news is it's not too late to become a good listener.

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to share your thoughts. It can only get better.

20 TRUTHS ABOUT LOVE

1. Love can't be explained.
2. Love is spiritual.
3. Love is all about sacrifice.
4. Love is a healing balm. It can heal anything (soul, spirit, body).
5. Unconditional love is the best kind of love.
6. No one has the control over the power of love.
7.Love is powerful and energetic.
8. Love strengthens someone.
9. One can be successful in any areas of life
if he/she is surrounded by love from others.
10. Love forgives.
11. No force is as powerful as love.
12. Love stands the test of time.
13. Love at times can be painful.
14. Love is contagious faster than any other
diseases.
15. God is the founder of love.
16. Love is the only solution to every
problem in this world.
17. Love is life.
18. Love is a mystery; it can't be fully unlocked
19. Love is the best character anyone could
possess.
20. The best gift you can ever give to someone is love.

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to share your thoughts. It can only get better.

TAKE TIME TO REFLECT 3

If your goal is personal growth, then you must take time for reflective thinking. So:

1. Remove yourself from distractions. Reflection and distraction don't mix. Reflection requires solitude. It's not the kind of thing you can do well near a television, while the phone's ringing, or with children in the same room. You say, "But I don't have time to spend in reflection." We all have 168 hours each week. If you spend just one of them reflecting, you'll be amazed how your life will be enriched.

2. Regularly review your calendar or journal. Most people use their calendar as a planning tool, which it is. But few use it as a reflective thinking tool. What could be better, however, for helping you to review where you have been and what you have done - except maybe a journal? Those two things remind you of how you've spent your time. They show whether your activities match your priorities. They help you to see whether you are making progress. They also offer you an opportunity to recall activities you might not have had time to reflect on previously. Some of your most valuable thoughts may have been lost because you didn't give yourself the reflection time you needed.

3. Ask the right questions. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 32:29, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" Ask yourself, " Am I growing personally and in my walk with God? Am I strengthening my relationships with the people who matter in my life? Am I using the gifts and sharpening the skills God has given me?" Reflecting on such questions can change your life for the better.

We've come to the end of taking time to reflect.

Thank you for reading.

TAKE TIME TO REFLECT 2

The digital age has great advantages. Through emails, texts, and tweets we can communicate quickly. The disadvantage is that it doesn't cultivate in us a desire to think about things deeply. You can't microwave personal growth; it requires a crockpot.

By taking time to reflect:

1. You gain confidence in decision making. Ever made a snap decision and later wondered if you did the right thing? Reflective thinking can help to defuse that doubt. It also gives you confidence for the next decision. Once you've reflected on an issue, you don't have to repeat every step of the thinking process when you're faced with it again. You've got mental road markers from having been there before.

2. You clarify the big picture. Reflective thinking helps us to go back and spend time pondering what we have done and what we have seen. To keep from making the same mistake over and over, you must stop and examine the process that led to it. In other words, reflection helps you to see the big picture.

3. You take a good experience and make it a valuable experience. They say we learn by experience. No, we learn from evaluated experience. An experience becomes valuable when it informs and equips us. That's why daily prayer and Bible reading are so essential. You'll understand things in God's presence that you won't understand any other way.

Thank you for reading.

TAKE TIME TO REFLECT (1)

TAKE TIME TO REFLECT (1)

When you take time to stop and reflect, you discover "honey" in your experiences that you can eat and grow stronger and wiser. When you reflect, you are able to put things into perspective; you gain new appreciation for things you didn't notice before.

Few of us have clear perspective in the heat of the moment. Most of us who have survived a traumatic experience usually avoid similar situations at all costs. This can leave us with unresolved issues that leave us tied up in knots.

Reflective thinking enables you to distance yourself from the intense emotions of an experience and see it with fresh eyes. Indeed, this process is one of the first steps to getting rid of our emotional baggage.

Each of us has been shaped by the experiences, good and bad, that we've had in life. What we refuse to deal with deals with us, and often in harmful ways. We "act out" of our unresolved issues. But when we bring them into the light and ask God for the grace to face them squarely, they lose their power over us.

Thank you for reading.