This I Believe

Jordan - San Francisco, California
Entered on July 12, 2006
Age Group: 18 - 30

This I Believe

I believe that when I am talking, you shouldn’t be. I am full of wisdom and insight well beyond my years, and the only way for you to benefit from this is to keep your mouth closed until I’m done talking. Even then, wait a second, because I may just be pausing for effect. Ideally, you should not talk until I’m done talking for at least 30 seconds. That way, not only will you have ensured that I am done talking, but you will also have had time to process all the amazing things that I have just said.

Now, this doesn’t just apply to people I’m speaking with directly. Not at all, instead, if you’re on a bus and you can see that I am talking with a friend, feel free to eavesdrop. What I say may indeed change your life. What you shouldn’t feel free to do is continue talking on your phone, likely with a Blacktooth enabled headset that is covered up by your hair so that you actually look like a lunatic talking to yourself. And you certainly shouldn’t raise your volume to talk over me. That is unacceptable. More importantly, it is a waste. For you will have just had the chance to overhear, for free mind you, some sage piece of advice which would have increased your earnings tenfold while at the same time improved your health and vitality. That important is what I have to say.

Please don’t take me as rude though, when I then interrupt whatever it is that you have to say to me. I greatly appreciate your attempt to converse with me on my level. In fact, I think it’s cute. Like a puppy engaged in an epic battle with my sock, you wrestle with only the simplest concepts of which I speak, unable to grasp the full magnitude of my magnificent oratory. It’s ok. You understand the basic principles, and overtime, will come to understand most of what I have just said. And for this, your life will be much better.

I believe that we live in world full of noise, and if we are not too busy creating that noise, we are shouting over it to be heard. The solution is simple. Stop talking. Stop adding excess noise into your life. Stop trying to escape the noise around you by adding even more. Turn the TV off. Put the Ipod down. Start listening. Start listening to me.