I am Listening....

         For whatever reason, at times the noise of the world drowns out the voice inside of me that tries to get my attention.  Every now and then I can hear it over the deafening sounds, and it usually comes in the form of sore achy muscles, depressive mood, anxiety, or a general feeling of unwellness.  It is during these times that I'm usually forced to listen.  However, what I should be doing is providing the space to listen more intently more often, so that I can give my mind and body the attention it needs before a bigger issue is caused.

        As of now, when I listen, I hear the need to nourish my soul.  The current lifestyle I'm living is not conducive to what my soul is craving; because of that, I haven't been feeling my best self lately.  I push forward, but I know that something is missing that really brings the spark of joy in my life.  There are things that definitely help, like time spent with friends and Kung Fu, that bring that joy and light into my life, but it is only a small part.  So I patiently sit and listen for what it is I need to do to feed my soul.

        A component of listening is patience, and another is receiving.  I think many forget the latter, and when it comes to listening, they are listening to respond, and not actively listening to really hear the message.  I can be guilty of that too, but I try to really soak in what someone else is trying to tell me, then let my thoughts percolate before I respond, if a response is even needed.  Sometimes we all just need someone to listen and not have a response.  As someone who is introverted I tend to be the listener, where my other friends do most of the talking.  I mostly will throw in sarcastic comments here and there, otherwise I'm taking in everything they are saying.

        Listening as apart of Kung Fu is a mix of listening to my body, feeling when my harmonies are connected and a technique feels good, and noticing when something is not quite right; and it also requires listening to my instructors and peers and being able to use the criticism I receive constructively and not take it personally.  Furthermore, it is about what is REALLY being said by the instructors, and not just the face value of what is being said.  I've learned just because an instructor is saying one thing, when another may have told me something different is because they are wanting to pull something different out of me.