Listening....better

I enjoyed a fun night out yesterday with three other friend couples. (Unfortunately, my hubby had class so I flew solo, which was fine, but I felt bad for him for missing the fun.) We chatted, reminisced about crazy experiences together and talked about where our lives are going in the next few months, some of which is quite undetermined.

After I left them, I began over-analyzing my conversations for the evening and felt like I was so eager to talk to them that I had thrown out random thoughts (about me) all over the place. This has actually been a complex of mine for a long time. I worry that I'm not a good listener in some social settings. Over about the last six months I have noticed an increase in my concerns in this regard. This leads me to believe that if my concern is growing, this behavior is likely growing.

Perhaps I'm not getting enough social, non-work interaction. I found myself babbling on a few weeks ago during lunch with a girlfriend and afterwards I felt as if I had talked all the way through our time together. I was so excited to see her, catch up and suck in a little estrogen interaction, that my logic and consideration flew right out the window. She probably didn't notice but I did. I don't want to be a person regarded for dominating conversation, especially with random thoughts all about me.

During college I participated in a listening workshop that was very enlightening. I think I may try to review some of these pointers and see what I can do to emphasize my listening skills. By listening skills, I don't mean the basic, "did I follow directions given orally" - I'm talking about real, meaningful listening. It will probably be helpful at work also.

Given that I'm not even sure where the list of written New Year's resolutions is at, perhaps I'll call this my April Fool's resolution. I can attempt to improve this aspect of myself, in an attempt to feel less foolish after a fabulous time spent with friends, family and acquaintances.