Quality over Quantity

It became very clear to me within the space of an hour this morning that I really needed to "Have a word with myself".
I communicate all the time, I considered myself excellent in communication, hell I'm a Sales Person, isn't that a key skill to be good at my job.
I text people all the time, I call people on landlines & mobiles, I like on FaceBook, I comment on comments, and say "Aww how lovely is that photo".  And am an avid tweeter.

But today in a stark realisation, having upset a couple of people, for very different reasons but fundamentally  the key reason, is that communication is much more important to people on an interactive basis, by this I mean listening and actually paying attention.

I use a saying frequently, "We have two ears and one mouth" have I recently been actually practising this? The answer to that is a big fat NO.

It has also become clear to me that I also don't pay attention! Evidence of this is a grumpy husband who brought back the wrong thing from the supermarket, (I am sometimes guilty of the fact that I thought it so I said it). A dead cat in a tree, I took no notice when the kids came in and said the cats stuck up the tree (oh it will be fine, cats go in tree's all the time) was my response. And do you know why, I will have been too busy communicating!

So after "Having a word with myself" I am now going to make a concerted effort, to really communicate. Listen and pay attention to the people I see day to day, look out for the non-verbal signs of communication and look out for the things that are not said.

Am I never going on Facebook, Twitter or reach for my mobile to text again? God no!!!!

But I am going to pay heed to this mornings lesson and on that note I'm going up to my mums with some dinner, a big cuddle, a smile and my two ears : )