Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Waiting For Answers

Listening is an interesting talent that some people possess. In fact, I would go so far as to call it a gift. When we think about life and all the things that we are faced with and do, many of us don't take too much time to stop and listen. One of the many things that my father told me in the early part of my mission was that I needed to stop and listen. The ability to listen is the ability to be teachable. It is the ability to properly communicate and understand. At times I can be a bit of a rambler but when necessary I listen.

When people need someone to talk to I always feel like I will become like this Dr. Phil where they will want to lay out and begin to rattle off all the things in their soul to me. It happened to me in high school. It happened again on my mission. It happens now in college. People don't always need to be prompted to say what they feel. Sometimes they just need the space to express themselves. This in essence is how meditation and the arts work. Specks of inspiration come as a person takes the time to really think, organize, and follow their own thoughts but during the whole process they might not need to focus on how to make things connect or how things happen but just by letting the thought linger, it grows. The same is true with being able to listen. If you are willing to absorb everything that is being given to you, just focusing on what is coming in and letting the thoughts simmer a bit, instead of trying to figure out what the next step is, how to respond, give some sort of counterargument, then we are able to really understand one another.

I feel like when I can focus on people and on their needs and their emotions, I can connect with them. I can listen to them and then I am prompted in what I need to say to help them unload and express their desires, their fears, and all the different feelings of the heart. Sometimes all you can do is hold a loved one in your arms and by just being there, holding them steady, letting them speak from the heart, you are able to show exactly how much you love and respect them. Many people just need encouragement instead of being given direction. And if you think about it that is how most of us grow, by enduring and pushing through our mistakes. If we are willing to lean on others, we will eventually be able to stand on our own. And all we needed was someone to talk to.

I myself will go for a long walk. It may look like I am alone but really I am going on these excursions to seek counsel. I go and I just think about life, my goals, my dreams, my present, my future... and as I ponder on how the whole journey has been going, I try to be open to any ideas that come into my mind of ways I can improve. These thoughts are what help guide me on how to grow personally, with my relationship with others, with my relationship with God. And it is with God whom I am attempting to converse! I am trying to listen to the thoughts and feelings in my heart and my mind and if I am willing to take the time to not interrupt him, be completely forthcoming and honest about everything I am going through and what I am feeling, it is an emotional, mental, and spiritual dump that is revitalizing. Physically it makes me feel better. And all it took was making time for God. To speak with Him... and I mean with, not to Him. He wants to bless us. He wants us to be happy. And sometimes he asks us to do things that we don't know how to do or if we are even capable of accomplishing. I can say like many of the prophets that at times, "I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." But that is His point... in making us learn to listen and to trust Him.

God will qualify us and work miracles in our lives and on our behalf. It is love that allows a person to truly hear and see another person's heart and soul. I guess I am writing this post because I have been thinking a lot about things in my future. I am looking for guidance and I can say that I don't know what to do. I have never been down this road before. But as long as I open my ears and my heart to the Spirit, I am sure I will receive the answers to my prayers.

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