Book Review - You Are Not Listening - Kate Murphy (Part II)

What will you do if you hear a piece of negative news from your friend? How will you react? What emotion will you express? Nowadays, people are more indifferent towards sad stories. They tend to skip the topic when people hear negative news. Instead, they love positive and successful stories.

Graham Bodie, a professor of integrated marketing communication, told us that people crave to be understood while sharing their stories. We seek true friends, not business partners. We feel lonely because we cannot share our sorrow with others or we are misunderstood.

Not everyone can get back on their feet after encountering ups and downs in life. Sometimes, we need to speak like a tortoise and think like a hare. Listen to others when they feel comfortable sharing with you. Also, talking to someone, ask yourself what you want to learn from that person, what matters to that person today, and how that person feels when you talk. This is standard procedure to help you have deeper conversations.

Be more patient and develop compassion. Leave time for the people you love most. Please remember not to bring yourself into a default position. We never know what state people are in and their true state.