April-May 2006 -- WELCOME

THE LISTENING CONNECTION
--your world-wide connection to "effective-active listening"

EAR-OPENING CONTENTS

1)April-May Ear-opening commentary.
"What Ever Happened?!"

2) Your INTERACTIVE DIMENSION - Your Opportunity: To Respond to these APRIL-MAY Questions of the Month

3) World-wide INTERACTIVE RESPONSES to the MARCH 2006 Edition Questions

4) APRIL-MAY Thought Provoker.

5) Ear-Opening Limited Package Special!!
Your Opportunity to Expand Your Relationships

1) What Ever Happened?!

by Greg Bauer

Sudden devastation, disaster, and earth-shattering moments strike the very hearts, minds, and souls of people around the world everyday. These gripping experiences often occur unexpectedly, unplanned, and most often unwelcomed. They become mind-numbing and paralyzing moments that seem to leave us feeling mindless, clueless, defenseless, and often times very vulnerable. We find ourselves enthralled in the moment and all that comes to mind and all that we can utter while we're catching our breath is:

WHAT EVER HAPPENED?!

As we stand there in shock and total disbelief, we try to firmly plant our feet firmly on what now seems to be unknown loosely founded ground and once again gasp:

WHAT EVER HAPPENED?!

The vast majority of us don't just sit around waiting for disasters to happen in our lives or even consciencely focus on what that next devastating moment might look like. However, once these instances occur, one question that I often hear from individuals is:

How can I better be prepared to respond to these sudden earth-shattering moments when they occur?

Practice is the key element in how you:

1) Listen to your heart.

2) Listen to your mind.

3) Listen to your soul.

That's right! You heard me right. Practice in our mentally being able to handle these three crucial and beneficial dimensions of internal effective-active listening needs to become an imperative tool in our listening toolkit-for-life.

This Practice needs to occur while we are performing our everyday tasks and initiatives while things are going well. As we encounter everyday challenges, conflicts, roadblocks, and disappointments Practice needs to become the operative word and lifestyle in our mentally contacting our heart, mind, and soul.

2) YOUR INTERACTIVE DIMENSION -- YOUR OPPORTUNITY: RESPOND TO THESE APRIL-MAY QUESTIONS OF THE MONTH.

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN:

(1) How has being unprepared and having a lack of Practice in internally utilizing the power of effective-active listening to your heart, mind, and soul affected you when the big unexpected disasters exploded without warning in your life?

(2) How did you use the tools from your listening toolkit-for-life when these unexpected life-circumstances exploded?

*YOUR OPPORTUNITY -- CONNECT WITH:*

THE LISTENING CONNECTION

YES -- This is your opportunity to share any of your answers (responses) to the questions from above with our international audience of subscribers of The Listening Connection. 1) We will include your answer(s)/response(s) in our next (JUNE) issue. 2) Our readers (subscribers) would also appreciate your providing us with your first name only, state you reside in (if in the U.S.), and your country. We are really looking forward to sharing with you new horizons in The Listening Connection being your worldwide connection to "effective-active listening". E-mail your perspectives/responses to: gregbauer@listenone.com.

3) WORLDWIDE INTERACTIVE RESPONSES TO
THE MARCH 2006 EDITION QUESTIONS:

(1) Where is your missing link in your everyday decision-making process?

(2) What have been some of the discoveries that you would like to share with us, about your encounters with your own missing link?

Responses to March questions 1 and 2:

ROGER -- WISCONSIN -- USA

After 6 years of being married to the same beautiful woman, my wife, I began to realize that at the end of all of our discussions and disagreements that I was right. I also realize now that I could have realized this factor taking place in our discussions much earlier in our marriage. But I didn't.

I discovered the missing link that had been putting a strain on our relationship quite by accident, or was it? One evening I was busy taking notes off my portable digital recorder that I had made to myself during the day for business. For some reason I had left the recorder in the "Record" mode after finishing the processing of my daily notes. My wife walked in and started a disucssion with me about a decision we needed to make. The discussion became more heated and pointed. This discussion was then abruptly ended by my acclaiming my way is the only way -- 100%.

The next day, without realizing that my recorder had captured this entire event, I played back my notes of the day. What I heard really bothered me. I was so shocked by the way I sounded and the way I was treating my wife and her opinions that I had to pull over to the side of the road and literally catch my breath.

I discovered "My Missing Link". After really listening to this recording several more times, that evening I confronted my wife with my discovery of this dimension of myself. She remained silent, listening, understanding, and placed her hand on mine.

So that evening we had the same discussion about the same topic that we discussed the previous evening. However, this time I paid very close attention to what she was trying to say and the messages that she was trying to convey. We discussed the pros and cons of the issues. We compromised on many of the major and minor points of the discussions and mutually agreed upon all of the conclusions. We kissed and mutually worked through each step of the process in the following weeks.

I've taken charge of what my heart is saying to me.

I'm listening to myself.

I'm taking charge of listening to what my wife is saying to me.

I'm listening to my wife.

I'm actively taking the responsibility for my listening to others in the many different aspects of my life.

ANDREA -- OHIO -- USA

My "Missing Link" was discovered in a jar. That's right -- a jar. Our seven year old daughter brought home from school one day a couple of caterpillars in a very large jar. Her assignment was to study the movement of these caterpillars amongst the twigs and grasses in the jar. She was also supposed to study their progression into becoming butterflies during the next two to three weeks. She was also allowed to take these caterpillars out of the jar to study their movement.

This jar sat on the island counter of our kitchen for the next 2 to 3 weeks, even while our daughter was at school. Our daughter's progressive assignment was -- what did you observe? I assumed the responsibilty of being the observer while our daughter was in school.

While working in the kitchen, I took these caterpillars out of the jar and let them slither around on the counter surface. I began to observe some changes from these caterpillars turning into their crysalis stage and one afternoon their finally turning into beautiful butterflies.

This moment turned into a turning point in my life and my discovering my "Missing Link". For the past two years, prior to this moment, I've been practicing how to play a keyboard that we initially got for our daughter. While growing up I took sporadic piano lessons. In watching these butterflies enjoying their final freedom or moment of new discoveries, I discovered a dimension of myself that I never knew before this moment. I've been struggling with where else I could share my musical talents. Who else would enjoy listening to my music besides my own family in the comfort of our living room? A vision appeared in my mind -- My Missing Link. I could perform at senior citizen centers and forums throughout the greater metro area and help inspire, entertain, and encourage this dynamic group of people. For you see, in the past six months our group at church had visited with individuals at four different senior citizen locations/residences and I've been wondering how I can be of further assistance to this segment of our community. The Missing Link was no longer missing.

I discovered my "Missing Link" in a jar.

KAREN -- MISSOURI -- USA

I wasn't looking for it. It just happened.

I've enjoyed my accounting/bookkeeping position for the past nine years and enjoyed coming into work and pursuing the challenges. I've enjoyed my job/career.

However, in my 8th and 9th year, my enjoyment turned into a status of pure survival. I began to get colds frequently and repeatedly. I tried all types of medications prescribed by my doctor. I even came down with walking pneumonia. Along with these ailments, I became bedridden three times for a week or more each time. Before these colds started occurring, I began to put on about ten extra pounds of excess body weight per year for about the past 4 years. Yeah, I was about 40 or 50 pounds overweight. I figured, so what? A lot of people around me are overweight.

I was to attend a week-long corporate retreat and leadership function at a lake resort. I was determined to make it to this function to maybe clear my mind, recapture how positive I used to feel, and just to get out of the office for a while.

This is where I discovered the missing link in my life on this week-long experience.

First, we were to bring any and all junk food that we brought with us in our suitcases to the first meeting upon our arrival at the resort. Our junk food was gathered by the resort personnel and this junk food was never to be seen again.

Second, during this first meeting we were to eat at least two pieces of fresh fruit that adorned the meeting room tables throughout the remainder of the week. During the entire week we were allowed to snack as often as we wanted to. However, we were only allowed to snack on fresh fruit and/or sometimes also veggies.

Thirdly, all of our meals (breakfast, lunches, and dinners) consisted of whole grain products, veggies, fruits, fish, and chicken. Also, all of our meals were to be consumed at group functions where the resort personnel verbally reviewed the positive aspects of the food we were eating.

During the first two days, not only I, but many others were privately and publicly protesting this treatment.

The Missing Link appeared to me on the morning of the third day. I was beginning to breath easier and felt lighter when moving and walking. Maybe there really is something to this methodology?

It's now been 7 months since that weekend and I made a commitment to myself and to God to stick to this new way of thinking and eating. I've also taken up swimming lessons once a week and walk during at least two of my lunch hours per week.

I still talk about how grateful I've been for my participating in this weekend.

P.S. I've had one mild cold since that weekend and absolutely no medications.

Go figure.

KEITH -- ILLINOIS -- USA

Emptiness exposed the Missing Link in my life.

I was living the dream lifestyle -- I thought. The world was mine to have and conquer as an investment counselor in the fast-paced lifestyle of New York City.

During a five-year period my world involved action-paced moves in buying, selling, and serving others' needs to help them reach financial ecstacy. In my mind I felt my world becoming shallow and of little substance.

My moving-rotating world never came to a complete standstill until that particular weekend when my wife of two years suddently died from a devastating internal condition with complications.

My world stopped. I was crushed.

For the next two weeks I didn't return to my business and had someone oversee my clients' investments.

I began to ask myself some questions?

- What am I going to do without her?

- What would she have wanted me to do?

- How can I make the most of my life?

- Where can I help others more than in this empty world of rapid-paced investing that I'm presently in?

As I pondered on these questions, I did so by taking long walks. As I did so, I passed by many a restaurant and found person after person enjoying themselves while eating and making conversation.

I researched this possibilty of being a restauranteur further, moved to another state, opened my own restaurant, and the empty void in my heart began to be filled with positive moments of helping others feel better thru experiencing dining at its finest.

May God bless my wife's precious soul in heaven.

4) APRIL-MAY THOUGHT PROVOKER

Practice does not make perfect;

Perfect practice makes perfect.

-- Vince Lombardi

5) Ear-Opening Package Special

The Breathing Blanket (book)
GREG BAUER – AUTHOR – VICTIM AND SURVIVOR OF A NEAR-DEATH DRUNK-DRIVING CRASH EXPERIENCE REVEALS IN HIS RECENTLY RELEASED INSPIRATIONAL BOOK – THE BREATHING BLANKET – HOW YOU CAN DISCOVER AN “I CAN DO IT” ATTITUDE BY INTERNALLY “UTILIZING THE POWER OF EFFECTIVE-ACTIVE- LISTENING”.

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Greg Bauer -- "The Guru of Listening" -- Co-Author
Opportunities in your personal life and corporate life are created by actively promoting and practicing relationship building and active listening efforts. This book reveals ways to establish and build relationships in customer service, management, sales, networking and self-promotion in the 21st century.

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ATTENTION: SUBSCRIBERS

(1) Our focus of this Newsletter will continue and remain on techniques, skills, and attitudes toward how we better "Utilize the Power of Effective-Active-Listening"™ in future issues.

(2) Your ideas and suggestions as to subjects you would like to hear about in the upcoming issues of this Newsletter - The Listening Connection - pertaining to listening would really be appreciated and we would like to hear from you at gregbauer@listenone.com.

In The Spirit of Sharing With Others . . .
. . . Opportunities Become Accomplishments™

©Greg Bauer (President, Greg Bauer & Associates, Inc. / DBA Listen1) Editor/Publisher 2006

· Looking forward to our sharing the next edition of The Listening Connection