Closed ears, closed minds?

This morning I have had another example of how most people in this world don't listen! I am one of the blessed few who have not had any negative pregnancy symptoms. I haven't been sick, I haven't had too many weird aches and pains, etc. Despite this, people are constantly asking me how I feel and asking in a tone of voice that implies that they know, I must be feeling so bad and they are so sorry for me. The funny thing is that these people who are asking me are people who have been asking me for the past 3 months. And every time I say, I feel great, no complaints.

This morning a coworker stopped by and our conversation went something like this:

"Hi Cheryl, how are you feeling?"
"I feel great, thanks. No complaints."
"Oh, that's too bad. Well, I hope you feel better soon."

Um, hello? I feel GREAT! What could be better than great? How many times do I have to tell this lady that I feel good and that my pregnancy is easy? Why does she insist on implying that I feel bad? I guess she's just not listening.

Did you know that we spend more of our life listening than we do reading, writing or speaking? So, why are people so bad at it?

I'm not immune from bad listening. I regularly find myself tuning people out, but I'm making more of an effort to tell myself, "Cheryl, stop thinking about how good a frappucino would taste right now or that you just noticed that the polish on your right big toe has chipped. Listen!" I guess that's making listening progress! Or, perhaps we're really not supposed to listen to social niceties. Maybe it's more important to ask the question than it is to listen to the answer.