Welcome to this week’s round of Five Minute Friday!
As always, it’s such a pleasure to have you here!
Just to recap the past week’s announcements, we have some fun activities planned for you in the coming weeks!
First off, Christina Hubbard is hosting a special edition link-up this Tuesday, September 20th!
The theme: What’s Your Groove? Writing Playlist
The scoop: Create a playlist of tunes you listen to while you write, post on your own blog, and share with the rest of us through the link-up on September 20th! I can’t wait to be inspired by what you share! 😉
Learn more about the Writing Playlist Link-up over at CreativeandFree.com
And that’s not all! Speaking of Christina, she has graciously agreed to host the 3rd annual 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes!
Hooray!
Learn all about the challenge by visiting CreativeandFree.com!
All you need is five minutes a day. We’ll even give you prompts! How much easier can it get?
Click the image below to download a free black and white version of the list:
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Inspired by the upcoming What’s Your Groove? Writing Playlist link-up,
… this week’s Five Minute Friday prompt is:
[Tweet “Come along and join Five Minute Friday as we write on the prompt, LISTEN!”]
GO.
I need to listen better.
To God, to my kids, to my own body.
I push on, push ahead, push, push, push, and the important things get pushed out.
Busyness is my excuse, and it’s self-inflicted. I think I can focus on multiple tasks at once, when really, I should devote my full attention to the person speaking, or the task at hand.
I’m not good at sitting still. To a fault. I’m convinced that my nature to do, do, do also impacts my ability to block out the peripheral and listen to the immediate needs of the person talking to me.
I listen well enough to answer appropriately, but am I fully engaged? Or is my mind wandering to the next thing I need to cross off my To Do List, or how I’m going to respond when it’s my turn to speak?
I spend too much time with my eyes on a screen–laptop, phone, whatever. And my kids notice. Half the time they have to repeat what they said, because I think I can read or type while I listen.
I can’t.
So this is me, purposing to be more intentional about listening well.
STOP.
What about you? Is listening well one of your strengths? If so, what tips can you share?
Link up your own five minutes of writing on LISTEN below!
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No! Listening is NOT a strength, but I’m learning to overcome my weakness. I have to intentionally stop what I’m doing and look at the person speaking. If I can’t stop what I’m doing, I ask the person to hold their thought until I can look at them. I’m also learning to restate what someone is saying (especially during arguments). If I can restate what they said, that means I was listening :).
Oh, Kate. We’re tracking on the same wave length again. I go through phases of being a good listener. When my schedule is busy, it’s hard for me to fully engage. And yet, especially with my family? This needs to be my top priority. Not my to-do list. One thing I try to do when someone talks with me, is to look them in the eye. Not one eye on a screen, or that onion that needs to go in the supper. But, in the eye. And when I’m in the middle of something (like cooking up something for my boy who has football practice in 25 minutes), I ask them to give me a minute to get to a stopping point, so I can fully engage with them. I’m not perfect at this,but I’m working on becoming more intentional about listening . . . again.
I learned to listen well in a hard school, one in which a mediocre grade meant death. It was listening to the sounds of the environment, taking the time to become attuned to what was normal and what was not.
For what it’s worth, ‘listening’ involved other senses as well, because some idiots really DID wear aftershave in the bush.
Oh, this is good. xo
Girl, I share your struggle. I am determined to listen more intentionally and attentively. Thank you for your words.
Uh-oh…you’re the person I wrote about. LOL!!!
Kate, I think you have shared about many of us. It can be wonderful to be able to tune out when one wants to read or do work in the midst of a busy place. But … such a fault when we tune out those we need to listen to the most. But at least the prompt is causing us all to think about it this week 🙂
I saw the prompt last night and knew I needed to write. So I laid in bed and wrote my post on my iPhone. I love the way you and this community encourage with words. Happy Friday, friend.
I’m right with you on this one! I wrote something along the same lines in my post today.
Thanks for another inspirational Five Minute Friday!
I *love* the 31 Days prompts! I’m doing 31 Days of Everyday Beautiful, and I think I can do those together <3
Hi Kate, This is such a timely prompt. (Again.) Over the last few weeks, I’ve been cutting out somethings and making space to listen. Listening is hard work. There is no other way around it. I don’t know if other generations struggled as much as we do, but I imagine it was, just different. I suppose the only way around it is to be intentional and keep on practicing. Not very specific is it? Maybe I need to think on this some more. Thanks for the challenge.
We might be from the same mold, Kate. I’m right there with you. Needing to listen better to others, to God, to my body. I’m glad we can walk this road together, and encourage one another as we journey. Much love to you, friend!
What I really picked up on here was the phrase “listen to my body.” I think God put something on my heart for you.
Can I just encourage you to take your body’s cues seriously? Fearless Leader, you have limits – and that’s okay. You can rest. You can unplug. Soak your aching joints in a hot bath. Snuggle under a fluffy blanket. Watch a silly movie. Everything will still be there. And you’ll be better able to tackle it.