October 03, 24 Hour Book.......

Am I willing to be a good listener? One of my favorite readings of this book. How willing am I to listen to a new person? I see people at meetings telling a new person to sit down and shut up. Take the cotton out of your ears and stick it in your mouth. You don't know nutin, sit down and shut up. the list goes on. When a new person shows up, they are usually filled with a lot of stuff and need to start venting, or else explode! They come to us for help. Are we helping if we tell them to shut up? I tell those people, who tell them to shut up, are you willing to buy them a 12 pack? Because in essence, that is what you are doing to them. I tell new people to start talking and keep talking. They say, what if I make a fool of myself? I tell them, it won't be the first time, nor will it be the last time. How many times are you at a meeting and you wish the person talking would just shut up. did they? Did you make it through that brief period of time? I'll bet the other person got a lot out of unloading a lot of stuff, they had been holding in. We gather together to help each other! Don't set a lot of tough guidelines that a new person might be able to meet. When a new person starts talking, I'll be the last to ask him to stop..... Time for a cup of coffee, see ya later.