Understand To Be Understood

As we approach election day - the rhetoric, mud slinging, chastising, name-calling, embarrassingly ugly pathetic behavior (and frankly, that's an understatement) is sad.  Oh. So. Sad.

With all this American-on-American verbal venom, I'm reminded of the famous Rodney King refrain, which he pleaded after getting beat up during the LA riots: "Can't we all just get along!?" And while this character bashing is not physically violent as the LA riots, the words are nonetheless bruising, painful and unnerving. 

So, what can we learn from all this political craziness, as it pertains to our own lives? Well, for one (and by the way, there's a boatload of lessons to be learned) is the importance that to be understood, we need to understand.  Likewise, to understand, we need to be understood.  And we need to do both with genuine sincerity; can't dial this one in.     

As simple as it sounds, it's apparently not that easy to do.

But try we must. More than just try, do we must. After all, how can we hope to do what needs to be done (and how best to do it) - if we don't at first pay sincere attention to what's actually going on, and what other people want done.  But all too often, most of us walk right into a situation - be that friendship, jobs, marriage, politics, whatever - with misunderstood assumptions, and make uninformed judgments/decision.  Not good.

Here's an idea: when we're in doubt, or when we're clouded by assumptions, let's simply ask the other person:  "What do you think?"  And then listen - genuinely and effectively - so that we can incorporate our new understanding, as part of making ourselves understood. Sure, that's way simpler said, than done (just look around, right?).  But it's doable, nonetheless.           

Understand To Be Understood Is Good.