Wow...something to think about

I came across this blog and I'm going to copy/paste some of what he has to say below. You can click on his link to see the full text.

 

 

In a culture that has become increasingly noisy it is not surprising that the correlative affect is that many people are simply drowned out by the noise. And therefore, in the process, this drowning out has a transforming affect on our relationships with one another. My father, who is not anti-technology at all, simply said to me, “I’m afraid we are losing our ability to be fully present to one another.”

Recently I’ve noticed some of these things I see around me, and I cringed, realizing that I do this quite a bit as well:

 

1. Parents playing with their kids on the playground while talking on the cell phone
2. A group of friends eating together, yet all looking at their phones and texting/Twittering, etc
3. Sitting with our spouses on the couch, yet constantly looking at our phones
4. Talking on our phones after we pick up our kids from school
5. Not moving away from our devices to focus on someone who has come to talk to us
6. Talking on the phone while ordering food, or buying groceries at the checkout
7. Worshipping in church, yet more concerned about what’s going on at other churches via Twitter
8. Checking email, FB and Twitter messages last thing at night, or first thing in the morning
9. Not having definite boundaryed times of no device use in our homes
10. Glancing at our phones while on a date with our spouses, or significant others
11. Constantly updating/texting during a game or concert
12. And on, and on, and on, and on……

I’m not sure if we are bored. If we are impatient. Or if we are simply just not happy with who we are, therefore, we are constantly casting the net outwards, seeking affirmation, hoping that someone will notice us.

  
This weekend when I was leaving my grandmother’s funeral, an elderly gentleman pulled me aside to not only say something about my grandmother, but more specifically about my grandfather. He said, “Your grandfather had the ability to make the person he was talking to feel like the most important person in the world.” I want people to feel that way after talking to me. To feel that I was fully present with them, and that they were the most important person in the world to me….not the person on Twitter who is not standing right in front of me.

 

His words hit me--I'm guilty of several of the things on his list. His words there at the end were especially true--I want people to feel like I really listened to them, that someone was the most important person in the world to me. But I also want to feel that in return--I want people to listen to me as well. I hate feeling like what I am saying is not important, and so many people make me feel that way.

 

Just something to think about on this rainy Tuesday.