Interesting article, thank you.

Personally, I have found that one qualifying step needs to take place before engaging in any conversation, however respectful. The person has to actually be present. I don’t mean physically sitting in the chair at the table, but mentally present. Mind turned on and listening. Not replays of last night’s Fox News or CNN’s. Not Rush’s latest rant, repeated verbatim. But someone who is actually willing to hear my words and provide answers that belong to them.

Over the past three years I have engaged in conversations with people I respect and like and have spoken with for years, who suddenly and without much warning, start quoting statistics of vast societal improvements, tremendous gains in reducing our national debt (true example), unprecedented change (all positive) in current foreign affairs — as if we’ve both been living in some alternate universe for the previous 36 months.

Even my blank stares and open-mouthed response, does little to slow down the onslaught of fantastical news coming out of Washington. I feel like I just entered the Twilight Zone and lost my passport.

In my opinion, one question needs to be asked before the conversation begins — are you actually going to listen to me, even a little, or just try to run me over with your point of view?

Any version of this will do. This usually gets the person to sit back and gently slip into neutral. All I want, is to get them to arrive. To slow down the engines of opposition and get them to listen before we begin.

Without this step, I could be juggling chainsaws or quoting biblical verse in Aramaic and they likely won’t hear or see a thing.

Politics is just the label we put on this subject and related attempts at talking about it. But it’s much deeper than that. Every objection, every attempt to shut you down is rooted in misunderstanding, loss, failure to be heard. It’s all in the past. But the ONLY solution for this is in the present.