this is important for me to read today, as I have been closing off a bit lately, and I can tell, because my listening starts to close off too - they are bound together the two, to me. If I cannot be open and receptive to others, I cannot receive or be available to them either. Simple enough. I spent my drinking days fractured - not letting anyone in on too much information about me and my feelings. I didn't want anyone to get the full picture of me. That is why the 5th step was such a departure for me, in my emotional and spiritual growth. To know that someone knows all of me was important for me, and life changing. But it doesn't end at the 5th step. I need to continue to let others in, risking that I could be hurt, but knowing that the rewards far outweigh the (perceived) risk. Letting others into my world gives me the chance to also get into other people's worlds, and to be connected more to others...something I greatly lacked during my drinking days (and even before that).
But the more I close off, the more I squeeze out others and God. I start to think the way I used to before, and start making distinctions and comparisons, which is unhealthy. I pray today that I don't close myself off to others, that I keep an open heart, keep my ears and mind open and that I allow myself to be open to God and others.