This morning I drove out of the canyon at 6:15 am to attend  a Colorado Women of Influence Quarterly “Before Breakfast” event from 7 – 9 am. This is a group I am committed to and have been very active in because I am aligned with their mission “to create a community of supportive colleagues at an executive level, women who understand the challenges at our advanced stage of business.”   Read the full vision statement.  Lee Porter,  the Trebuchet Group, presented today on ”improving your listening skills!” Ah, what a glorious and significant topic as it influences all aspects of our lives.

Thank you, my friend, Deb Howard, Guiding Change, for alerting me to this fabulous book yesterday. Here is a poem quoted in the book that touched my heart.

Words Are Windows
(or They’re Walls)

I feel so sentenced by your words,
I feel so judged and sent away,
Before I go I’ve got to know
Is that what you mean to say?

Before I rise to my defense,
Before I speak in hurt or fear,
Before I build that wall of words,
Tell me, did I really hear?

Words are windows, or they’re walls,
They sentence us, or set us free.
When I speak and when I hear,
Let the love light shine through me.

There are things I need to say,
Things that mean so much to me,
If my words don’t make me clear,
Will you help me to be free?

If I seemed to put you down,
If you felt I didn’t care,
Try to listen through my words,
To the feelings that we share.

Ruth Bebermeyer

My wish for us all is that we communicate from the truth of who we are from the deepest part of our being! This seems more important to me NOW than ever before. Let us, together, speak truth marinated in love!