Faith Venture

During those rough early-teen years, my daughter would tell me that I shouted at her. I told her, “Girl, you don’t know what being shouted at is!”

It is true that we do not like being shouted at. I suppose that if we are US Marine Corp recruits and the drill sergeant is in our face, there might be a reason for being shouted at. (I only know from TV and not from personal experience.) I have experience with manufacturing plant managers screaming at me to fix a machine or get production moving. Not pleasant, although sometimes quite motivating.

Have you noticed that you listen more carefully when the speaker speaks quietly? The softly spoken word backed by full diaphragm support effectively communicates its message.

Let us take a look at a typical politician or Christian. How often are they shouting to get your attention? Even in emails the tone is shouting.

I notice people who are nervous or uncertain of their own value often raise their voices. Nassim Taleb notices that people tend to raise their volumes when they are lying.

A good spiritual practice–try speaking softly with full diaphragm support and distinct words. Try it again. Until you perfect it.

This entry was posted on November 23, 2022 at 6:08 am and is filed under Disciplines, Habits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.