“Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.”—Jane Goodall
We don’t have to look far to find something we would like to change. And, certainly, there will be someone with whom we don’t agree. So, what are the options? We can give up and succumb to the status quo. We can fight. Or, we can sit down to discussion with the opposition.
Too often in our society, we chose a route that takes us nowhere. We take the “fight or flight” approach. Neither, however, results in lasting change. The former can never result in change. The latter can result in change that comes only by force. Change by force is unstable. At best, it is temporary—until the opposition can muster the strength to overcome the suppressor.
Real and lasting change comes only with dialogue. Change comes when we sit at the table and listen. Sadly, we seem less willing to listen. We demand to be heard and scream that we are entitled. No one listens when someone yells in the ear. If you want someone to listen…whisper.
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”—Stephen R. Covey