Listening is a skill

I’m sure it has happened to all of us, we are talking to someone and you ask them then something they say ‘what’ and then before you get to repeat what you just said, they respond. I know it has happened to me and I’m sure that I’ve probably been guilty of it a few times. Are we really that self-involved that we are too focused on what wear going to say? I remember my 7th grade teacher saying "listening is a skill", and its something that has always stuck with me. When conversing with someone, you need to listen, comprehend and then respond. More often than not we listen and only hear what we want to hear and then move straight to responding, without comprehending. Is it human nature to always be defensive and ready to respond instead of just taking it for what it is? Is it a default in the brain that we automatically say "what" before anything else? I saw a shirt that explained it best "half listening as usual". So the next time you are talking to someone, listen to what is being said and take a second before you respond, its amazing how much more you will understand.

“There are people, who instead of listening to what is being said to the, are already listening to what they are going to say themselves.”