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Despite knowing the importance of listening, I must admit that I failed to do it from time to time. A perfect example of this instance was a recent conversation with my Mom.
One day, my Mom asked me to buy the ingredients for her liquor cake. She could not do it because she was too busy preparing and cleaning the house as some of her friends will be dropping by to visit her that day. While she was talking to me, I received a text message from my friend in the baseball team, Jorge. Jorge was asking how the previous game went, the one that he missed due to an injury. Because I was busy texting, I failed to pay attention to my Mom’s instructions. I heard her saying that the list of items I needed to buy was written on a paper, on the table. However, because I was not paying attention to her words, I just grabbed the first paper I saw from the table, a white sheet of folded paper. I did not understand that she was talking about a yellow paper where she wrote down the ingredients she needed. It was only after I reached the grocery store and opened the paper that I realized that I got the wrong one. The white paper was actually an old receipt, so I went back home. Although I was able to buy what she needed for her liquor cake after visiting the store for the second time, I know I could have saved more time and energy if I paid attention to her instructions right from the start.
Moving forward, I know I need to avoid distractions to improve my listening skills. This is not always easy, especially because I am used to checking phone messages all the time, but with conscious effort, this is definitely possible.
