The reason God gave us two ears and one mouth

Published on:

10 Jul 2014, 12:10 pm

By the way he put the human body together, the Good Lord encouraged us to listen twice as much as we speak. Shamefully, I forget this advice far too often. Say too much, and allow noise created by empty vessels or vested interests to infiltrate my thinking. Drawing conclusions before listening carefully to the small voices, the ones that really matter.

But yesterday, I listened. First to Dali Mpofu, an educated man, an advocate, one of "The Three Musketeers" whose intervention ended the five month platinum strike. He reminded me the strikers understand far more about economics than we give them credit. They appreciate their reality – that the more they get paid, the less jobs there will be in the future. But are so dissatisfied with their lot, they consciously allowed emotions to rule logic. That's a dangerous place for society at large.

Robin Sharma is the other man I listened to closely. The Canadian best-selling author and self-improvement guru will be back in Johannesburg this month. Those bringing him here arranged my interview. It reminded me how much I love my job. And while explaining the reason he loves coming back to SA, Robin Sharma showed how blessed I am to live among my countrymen. People, he said, who possess such big hearts, are so real, and have such a fierce devotion to live life fully.

Thanks Robin. And Dali. And the Good Lord who gave me those two ears and just one mouth.