When You Want to Know Something Just Ask – Anyone!

And they’ll tell you what they think about it whether they know anything about it or not. Get that? Yes, that’s exactly what I meant to say—whether they know anything about it or not. I’m pretty sure that in this day and time, we all know someone like that.

In this hyper-connected world, which is not really connected, it seems we all have a need to have something to say about most anything. Now, hold that thought for a moment.

Ever hear of the quiet reserve of America’s West?

One of my best friends, Tim Wilson, shared an opinion article with me from The Washington Post by Maddy Butcher. Kind of fitting that it’s an opinion piece, right? Well, I’m about to do a one-eighty on you…

In the rural West, quiet reserve is an essential skill and a fading art form, lost on people, like me, who rush to react and to be heard.” 

—Maddy Butcher, author of “Beasts of Being: Partnerships Unburdened” and director of the Best Horse Practices Summit

Now imagine yourself in a typical coffee shop that’s brimming with energy. You’re bantering away with a friend or an associate, and after confidently pontificating with assumed authoritatively on a matter near and dear to you, she simply replies with a “Hmmm.” That’s it, nothing else.

Sans any counter-argument based on her worldview of the subject.

I believe most of us would think she hadn’t heard a word we said. And there’s a good chance that’s right for at least half of it while most of us would begin mentally crafting our rebuttal.

What would happen if we didn’t automatically do that? You know, stop listening and start mentally debating. What if we learned once again to lend our complete attention to others?

Maddy explains that quiet reserve “is rapidly losing ground to a louder, vainer way of being.”

But what if “quiet reserve” became the desired new skill of our times? What if it started to show up on EQ checklists everywhere?

Crazy? Sure. Who would embrace that? Would you?

If you’ve ever spent time out west in America’s more rural areas, once you slow down enough, you’ll start to notice their more “contemplative, measured mindset.” And if you spend enough time in farm and ranch country, this new way of communication may begin to take hold.

Instead of reactively debating the news of the day, you’ll mull it over for at least a few minutes before telling your friend how it really is. When you encounter a new idea or way of thinking about current issues, you may start to process them in a way to see if they might even fit into your perceived model of the world around you.

Is that a “What if” worth considering?

Here’s one more quote from Maddy Butcher’s article to ponder while you begin to practice this newfound skill called quiet reserve—

“I tend to study, sit back, listen, watch. It’s a calmer way of doing things.”

—Erin Nissen, 4^th generation farmer in the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado

Hmmm…

Be untucked.

p.s. Thank you for reading LifeUntucked today. It really means a lot considering you have over 31 million other choices. I strive to make it one of the most helpful and entertaining blogs in cyberspace. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome!

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