Competing Noise

My wife was sitting on the couch watching television while I was making a smoothie earlier today. The sound of the blender was drowning out her program and making it difficult to watch. I realized she had paused Netflix when I couldn't hear anything coming from the living room. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me she didn't want to try and compete with the blender's volume and would wait until I was done before she resumed watching. She made sure I knew she wasn't upset about it and she didn't want to get into a battle of volumes, but would wait for the right time.

How often do discussions and differing opinions become battles of escalating volume? We feel the need to speak our thoughts and will do so regardless of what other people are sharing. Adding multiple voices on top of each other creates a cacophony of noise resulting in a lack of clarity and decreased feelings of personal value. 

There is a way to find an equal opportunity to share, but it will require an attitude of patient humility and a willingness to listen. Choosing to wait your turn isn't just polite. It's the only way we can engage each other while appreciating the value of what someone else has to say.