Every time we sit down to talk with another person, it is, in a sense, a double date. We are each there, of course, but we have also brought along our inner voice, that chatter in our head about how the world (and the other person) should be.
That chatter keeps us from attending to the other, truly walking with them and loving them.
And we all have the chatter. (The times when we think we don’t are when it can get in the way the most.)
This chatter (and so the double date aspect) will never entirely go away, but conversations (and, over years, relationships) go better when we each do our part to turn down the volume on this inner commentary.
How to turn down the chatter? My best answer at the moment is to: 1) see it when it arises, and gently let it go, over and over for years, and 2) root in a reality bigger than ourselves so we do not think we need the chatter to control the world.
Let’s learn to turn down the chatter to tune in to each other.
Paul's Blog 