The navigating voice said ‘right’ more than once, speaking from my cell phone. Not left. She never said, Left. Yet somehow, in my head, I heard ‘left’ every time.
I stopped when I was told that I’d reached my destination. But I could not find it.
Then accidentally, I looked to the right. There stood The Beacon! The Voice had always said, ‘right’. What went wrong?
“Learn to listen,” I’ve often been told. As a learner, that’s a key to many doors. Follow your teacher with your eyes, and your ears. Whenever you can, make eye contact. Let nothing distract you from listening.
Focus also on what’s going on in your head – that’s where the links of learning are formed.
If there’s a missing link, raise your hand urgently. “I don’t understand how you got 3, sir?” And your teacher may reply, “Because that’s the square root of 9!”
I’d been driving alone. What distracted me? I think it was excitement about a beach weekend with family, in a new place.
My ‘teacher’ said, right. I don’t know how I could have heard, left.
Next time, I’ll say aloud what I heard, to get past the distractions. In a classroom, you can say it aloud – and still keep it under your breath.
I need to learn to listen, constantly. Then I’ll be able to listen to learn.
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