Who Is Whispering In Your Ear?
“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.” ~ Napoleon Hill
I think what he was saying here is consider what you may be whispering in another person’s ear which they may have never considered. I learned this lesson at a fairly young age and would love to share a story.
In my 20’s I was married, and my husband was working a job 90 miles away and would often get home very late. When this first began, I would wait for him at home with dinner cooked and he would come home tired and often having already eaten. As a young wife I would get upset and an argument would ensue. During one of those nights he said, “go out do something other than waiting around for me.”
At the time my boss had purchased a home and was doing some renovating, so I offered to go help since I had learned how to do some basic home renovation skills from my grandparents who had built their own home. I started spending more time over there and less time waiting at home. My boss had purchased his home from my mother in-law who was a real estate agent. She stopped by to drop off a thank you gift and noticed my car and concluded I must be up to no good.
I didn’t realize this until after a separation, she had told her son I was having an affair with my boss. The truth was I had tried to set him up with a couple of my friends and had absolutely no interest in him at all. Needless to say, my husband started spending the weeknights in the city he was working in and only coming home on weekends.
My married friends tried to tell me he must be having an affair, however, in love and aware of the damage a whisper like that could do I ignored it. Over the summer my husband told me he was involved with someone in the other city and we separated. It wasn’t until years later I learned he opened himself up to have an affair once he thought I was.
We have no control over how other receive our words, however, we do have control over the words we speak, the tone we use and the clear communication around the intention of our words. As we go about our lives, with digital nonverbal communication becoming more of our routine we are also responsible to any intent we are reading between the lines. Seek clarification, ask questions, be open to understanding another person’s point of view.
So much of the anger, resentment and chaos in our lives is a result of not seeking to have open and honest communication. In the beginning this can be challenging, however, with anything in life the more you make this a part of your relationships the more trust you build and the more clearly you communicate. The clearer the communication the deeper your relationships.
So, in closing consider the words you are whispering and the whispers you are letting in.
Be healthy and safe.
CL Landreth #changeorbechanged