Do we have ears to hear and a heart to listen?

Whew. Tonight was a night that I wanted to just talk and debrief on the days events. Same for my husband. It is bad when we both want to talk about our day at the same time. It is like all over again trying to learn how to share. We both want to talk and the other to listen.

I have not really got into the Michael Jackson events until really today. I listened to the service on my computer while working today and as the service continued, my feelings of my teen years and how I loved this artist's music really came over me. I don't believe in idol worship and I try to keep things in perspective but as testimony after testimony was shared about how good this man was and then at the end when his daughter just said the few words, He was the best daddy, my heart went out to this family. It was like I just needed to talk through this and the only person that I really wanted to talk to was my husband.

My husband had a great day at work and when we got home together, he wanted to share the details with me. He wanted me to hear about the success that the sales floor had and the problems that he was able to solve for the customer. This was important to him for me to listen.

We both realized that what each other had to say really didn't matter that much to the other but we both needed to talk it out. I needed to tell him about the funeral details and how it effected my thoughts and he needed to tell me how he succeeded today in his job.

Wow it is hard to sit and listen when you have so much inside you that you want to say. Do you take turns or do you just sit and let one finish before starting your story?

I think I dominated the conversation tonight. Not on purpose but I think I just had not used all my words for the day and had to get them out. My husband sat across from me and listened. He listened with his ears but he also listened with his heart because he knew this had touched me in a way that I had tried not to let it.

When he finally got to the point of being able to tell me about his day, his was not as drawn out but definitely not as long as mine. He shared with me his success in the day. I listened carefully because I know my husband and somehow or another during the next few hours he will say something to me to make sure I was listening the first time (which is very important to him) but I was also listening with my heart because I was celebrating with him in his joy.

We don't do this all the time and I dare say not as often as I should. My husbands biggest complaint with our marriage is that our communication on small things stink. I agree with him. We both assume things and don't listen to the details. That will get you in big trouble.

Ears and heart are they connected? I think they are. With our mates we always need to listen with our ears and let it affect our hearts.