Sunday, January 11, 2009

Knock Not Heard? Knock a Little Louder

As my wife and I arrived at the door of the Bride-to-be’s house at a recent wedding photography job, we quickly found the party inside the house difficult to break-up. No one could hear us knocking.

We decided to knock again, only this time louder. At this point I was beginning to think two things: either we would offend the people inside with a louder knock, or we wouldn’t be answered at all. We knocked again, and then again… louder still.

We were eventually able to raise someone’s attention (thankfully) and were let in where we could greet the bride and begin the work.

Sometimes in our communications we ‘knock’ but can’t get through. Others too might ‘knock’ at our door and not get through.

It’s at these times we need to knock slightly louder to try and get through, but is there any point in beating the door down? I’m not sure that method actually works communicatively.

That’s when a slightly different ‘knock’ might be needed; a slightly different tack or tactic, be it different words, a different approach, starting over, or simply waiting for another time.

Again, when trying something new or changing some routine, we don’t always get the right response or result first time. ‘Knocking a little louder’ can be both a way of persisting and also a way of confirming the correctness of the approach; a catalyst for adjusting the approach slightly.

When we can knock a little louder without upsetting anyone, and as a way of deducing or checking the right path, without being set in our way regarding our knocking, we’re growing in wisdom and discernment.

‘Knocking’ appropriately in our communications is about listening with our hearts open to and in-tune with the people around us.

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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