Words

Recently I was once again reminded of just how much I have to learn and this has happened so many times you would think that it would not be a surprise but it always catches me off guard.
I have known for years that I was not very good at reading between the lines and this was most evident in my inability to figure people out. I would always say that attributing motives to peoples remarks was unfair and to be avoided. Recently I have had an epiphany. It started when I tried to figure out why my wife and I never seemed to understand one another. It seems I listen to her and respond to her words accordingly but her words are not what she means. When I speak to her my words are what I mean but she assumes that what I mean is what she hears and often that has very little to do with my words. Often times she will respond to my questioning her remarks by saying you know what I mean or after all these years you should know what I mean.
I have been watching the talking heads on TV discuss various issues and it is obvious that they are not listening to the words that each is using but they are instead hearing what they believe the other person meant to say. The result is that the end up talking past each other. This of course leads to mass confusion but it is the way it is.
It is obvious to me that most people understand this idea of hearing more than the words but it is not the norm for me. Yes I realize that occasionally I get an insight based on something other than what is said but that only occurs infrequently and I am always suspect of what I think is going on. I can’t put any numbers on this but I am quite sure that most people are far more adept at this than I am.