Press The Mute Button

By: Alicia Howell
 

Have you ever found yourself it a back and forth conversation with someone? You find yourself using different words that all have the same exact meaning. The meaning is what the person that you are having the conversation with doesn’t seem to hear or isn’t understanding. It’s like they don’t know or they don’t care about what you are trying to say. Negative emotions seem to grow three sizes on those days.


When you find yourself in those types of conversations your energy, spirit, fragile inner being suffer and so does the other person. When we argue we raise our voices and not our words. We listen with the intent to respond and not the intent to understand. We are hurting, they are hurting, and the pain doesn’t clear over time. We keep coming back to bits and pieces of the same argument because the issue hasn’t been resolved.


Next time you find yourself in a situation where the volume in the conversation rises like smoke in a fire; inhale deeply and upon exhaling say, “may I be open and receptive to the information that I am about to hear,” and PRESS MUTE. Pressing mute doesn’t mean just being silent and mentally arguing, it means listening with your ear and echoing the information with your mind. Give your mind and emotions 24 hours to process the information.

Stefanie Kaufman