Learn to listen ....

Too many times, we learn from hindsight. Whereas, if we had really listened carefully, we would have picked up those tell-tale signs that say something ain't working as it should.....right from a sputtering car to a tumultuous relationship. It's true.

Sometimes, we get a chance; sometimes, it's a tad too late. 

As Life unfolds, I realize that I am still learning - to listen - for answers, for warning symptoms, for clues to what lies ahead. 

Recently, my body was telling me to slow down, yet caught up in the flurry of activities that seem to add meaning to each day, I had forgotten about listening and carried on ...till....I got a bit of rude shock, but just in time. I should have seen it coming. But I was too busy. Yet, Life was kind to me.

And I learnt another life lesson. 

To always listen.... to your soul, to your body, to the universe. 

Because there are answers - most of the time. It is up to us to find them. And if we don't see them, it's because like me, we are often, too busy with other things that cloud our vision and dull our senses. Or maybe there are no answers at that moment - they will be divulged as we go along, so we have to lie low and be patient. But we must be open and receptive. We must learn to listen.

How many times in our mad rush called Life have we ignored the things that seemed small at that time? Because we believe we can always catch up later.....

- those times when your aging parents wanted your attention but office kept you too busy to take time off and go rush to hug them?

- those times when your kids wanted you to travel into their fairytale world of dreams and make-belief but you had to rush for an appointment, a deadline, a task?

- those times when raindrops on your windscreen reminded you of a long drive in the monsoon with someone special that you have lost touch with, but you didn't dial that number and went back to routine instead?

- those times when you remembered a long forgotten passion for art, for music, for books and ignored it, saying you will go back some day, after retirement, after the kids were settled, after the cows came in?

this list is endless for each of us .....and yet sometimes, we don't pay heed till it's too late.

Life always has a way of telling us what really matters; the heart will always tell you what it wants, the body will always tell you what you should be doing, the universe always has a way of playing back the same lesson to us, time and time again, till we learn to pick up the cues.

We must learn to listen. To quieten our minds and cut out the noise. To open our horizons and hear the untold word. And to act on what the world seems to be whispering in our ears. 

So that there are no regrets later on. For you or yours.

Slow down. Listen....