You learn important lessons in the strangest places. While watching the dvr’d version of a soap opera, one thing I’ve observed in the behavior of the characters was the way they stop and pause extra long after being asked a major question or told something really huge that’s going to cause conflict. This very pregnant pause allows the network to go to commercial.
After watching months of this, I realize it’s a life lesson. Who knew you could learn life lessons in a soap opera? It occurred to me that stopping and not speaking, and taking that very pregnant pause when posed with an appalling situation, is exactly the behavior I need to mimic. Today I tried it. Instead of being my usual animated self, and jumping into a conversation that I’m passionate about, I pulled back. Today I let people talk all around me – even though I had pertinent information bursting out of my head to contribute to the conversation, I kept quiet and just observed. When they turned to talk to me or ask my opinion, I hesitated instead of jumping ahead and opening my mouth. By taking that pause, my answer to the inquiry actually changed from my initial impulse answer. I said less. Which can only mean I heard more. Hearing more, can only mean I had a better understanding of where others are coming from. Thus, my response was more in tune to the conversation.
Why is this important to me? It’s important because there are many times I left a group gathering where I felt I dominated the conversation and never took the time to see and understand the other person’s point of view. That was important to me – to fully stop and really listen to other people before injecting my own opinion into a conversation. I feel, thanks to the Young and Restless, I have become a better person.
And so, as another day goes by, who knew I could learn better listening skills and better manners in general from a soap opera? And…I have written.
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