I like to think of this literal statement in a couple different ways. The first, is something a lot of little kids have issues with: thinking before they speak. So many times when I’d be teaching a class of 4-6 year olds, one would raise their hand as if they had the most important and impactful question. I’d call on them, and it’d be, “I saw a bumblebee on the playground,” or something completely random that has nothing to do with what we’re doing in class. Eventually most of them learn to focus on karate when they’re in class like I tell them, but unfortunately some never learn this level of self-control and bring it into their adult life. It usually isn’t as bad as the little dragons, but sometimes adults get riled up about something, and don’t think about what they say before they’ve said it. Insults, micro-aggressions, hate speech, even threats can occur when two adults are getting caught up in their emotions. Not just in person, but online we see it all too often. It’s important to always strive for keeping a level head, and not acting before you think, especially when other people are involved and emotions get heated.
The other way to interpret this quote is the concept of hearing vs listening. Again, something children struggle with, but seen in plenty of adults as well. I’ve fully explained something one-on-one to a kid, asked if they understood and they said yes, and afterwards they ask a question that I literally just answered if they had listened. I know a lot of factors come in to play here, one most prominent being that people have a limited capacity of what they can learn in one sitting. This is why we disguise repetition in various drills and training practices so we can give them the same information as many times as possible in hopes it’ll sink in, and it usually does. Not everything is a karate class though, and some people struggle with this concept in their everyday life. With our devices always within arms reach, it can become easy to drown out what someone is saying if you’re distracted by a cute cat video. Or if someone is having a conversation with you in person but you’re on your phone the entire time they’re talking, I guarantee you won’t fully listen to what the person is saying because your mind is somewhere else. It doesn’t have to be a device distracting you either; sometimes we space out while someone is talking to us, or even we’re not interested in what they’re saying so we just half-listen. It becomes frustrating to repeat yourself because someone wasn’t listening, especially when you were talking directly to them.
We’re social creatures by nature, and we obviously want people to listen to us when we talk to them. Don’t take human interaction for granted; God forbid we have another pandemic and all we can do is communicate over phones again. It’s important to stay present, especially when you’re with others. It’s part of being a good friend, sibling, and just overall human being.
