Listen up

Lynette Sowell

-My front porch-

If it’s one thing I remember from elementary school, it’s the teachers trying to get us to listen, which is probably one of the biggest grown-up lessons we can learn. We learned where we should write our names on our papers, learned to listen to announcements such as instructions for storing supplies, when lunch happens, where to line up for the bus. Chances are, if students miss any of that, they weren’t listening. I’m sure I did several times because I was daydreaming about stories.

 

The word listen has an easy definition: “to make an effort to hear something, to pay attention, to heed.”

 

It’s one of the first lessons we learn in school and it’s one of the lessons we all must keep learning, even those of us who’ve been traveling around the sun longer than the small fry. Listen to the doctor who’ll give instructions for combating that heartburn and bad back. Listen to your mother when you ask her for that foolproof recipe for homemade dumplings. Listen to your child, who’s had a rotten day at school when they forgot the answers to the questions and someone called them stupid. When you’re driving, pay attention to sirens so you can pull over. Watching and listening are vital practices, especially if you’re on the road.