I used to arrive at highschool about 15 minutes before any of my friends. One morning I got talking to a girl from my grade who caught my bus.
PICTURE: Terri Heisele/www.freeimages.com
She came and sat in my area, and for a good 20 minutes I just listened to her. Then my friends arrived and school started.
By recess I heard rumors that this girl liked me! Gee, the gossip mill. Just because we talked!
By lunch she had sent a friend to ask me out! I was flabbergasted. This girl was smitten with me, simply because I listened to her.
How sad is our world, where simply listening is an extraordinary commodity. We never dated, but we were good friends.
Be extraordinary – listen to people. No, stop thinking about what you want to say and listen.
Paul Clark’s musings can be heard on radio across Australia and at atthetop.org.au.
