If A Tree Falls in The Forest.....

Do you sometimes feel like the tree falling in the forest?  You know, the one that we're not sure makes a sound.  Sometimes we all feel like that tree:  alone among others of our kind, yelling into the wind when no one is listening.  Or maybe we feel like the tourist in a foreign country:  speaking when no one understands us.  You know you're the tree or the tourist when you find yourself having the same conversation over and over again with the same person.  Have the conversation enough times, and it's a relationship killer.  We think the reason the conversation gets repeated is because the speaker is unclear, or maybe it's because the listener is unable to hear the message.  Most of the time, the reason is that the speaker and the listener are so engrossed in their version of the conversation that they don't hear the other's version.  It's kind of like my Grandma Molly and Cousin Rose.  Both of them were stone deaf and hadn't seen each other in years.  Rose came to town, and she and Molly were so thrilled to see each other that they couldn't wait to catch up.  They did not stop talking all weekend, and had a wonderful time.  Problem was, they were having two entirely different conversations - all weekend.  Neither one heard a word the other said.  They didn't care because their purpose was just to be together; the conversation was secondary, and they both knew and accepted that.  Unlike my grandma and her cousin, for most people, it is the conversation that's important, and yet most of us don't hear the other any better than Molly and Rose, nor do we care.  We just want to be understood.  First, however, we need to understand.  We need to put aside our need to be understood and really work at understanding.  Then we can have new conversations and not just the same one over and over again.