Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog

Learning effective listening skills is critical in building personal relationships. This point was clearly brought out in my recent interview with Dr. Robert Bohlken, Ph.D. in discussing his new book, Learning to Listen with Significant Others.

An expert in the field of listening, Dr. Bohlken provides guidance in understanding and improving listening behaviors. Listening is key to all effective communication. Without this ability to listen effectively, communication will break down and the message will be misunderstood or lost.

I asked Dr. Bohlken what inspired him to write the book.

Learning to Listen with Significant Others by Bob Bohlken, Ph.D.

Bob Bohlken, Ph.D. author of Learning to Listen with Significant Others says that effective listening helps build a foundation for healthy relationships.

This is a book important for business communicators, counselors, and individuals.  Go now to order Learning to Listen to Significant Others released in trade paper (ISBN: 978-0-93043-23-2, 65 pages, $14.95) at http://www.imagesunlimitedpub.com and http://amzn.to/1f9JOAh

Learning to Listen with Significant Others by Bob Bohlken, Ph.D.

I’m excited about our new book just published, Learning to Listen with Significant Others – A Conversational Approach by Bob Bohlken, Ph.D.  This is a new category for us – in Interpersonal Relationships/Education/Communication.  Useful for counselors, marriage prep directors, and training materials for companies with their employees.

View our most recent press release at http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release-service/379243

Here is a another book I want to share with you – although it is not a cookbook. Listening to the Mukies and Their Character Building Adventures, by Bob Bohlken is an insightful book for kids which received the Mom’s Choice Award from The Just for Mom Foundation. It is a story about the lives of Mukies living in the land of Mukies and how they overcome obstacles through patience, cooperation, and understanding.

In the story, The Happy but Unhappy Mukie there lived a Mukie farmer named Marvin. He and his wife and three children lived comfortably farming and harvesting melilot, the Mukies’ favorite food. One night a wondering Mukie, the Old One, came along and was invited to share a meal and spend the night.

I’ve been doing a series on making a difference, to spotlight Make a Difference Day on October 23.

Today I want to highlight another aspect of making a difference. This time I want to relate this to our search for happiness and how it makes a difference in our life and the lives of those we love.

People search for happiness in many places. Often times others, such as mass media, the internet, and those with whom we associate, influence us into thinking that possessions, places, or things will make us happy.

Questions here point to:

In his circle of peers, one Mukie in the book, Mukies and Their Character Building Adventures, is a different color. He and his father were the only purple Mukies in the community of brown individuals.  Can you imagine the thoughts and feelings of the single young purple Mukie among a large peer group of brown Mukies?  Or of the large brown group and the single purple one?

This story examines racial bias before it becomes a prejudice. The purple colored Mukie’s identity is first one of curiosity, then distrust, and finally indifference.

Here are questions from one of the stories in the character skills book, Listening to the Mukies and Their Character Building Adventures:

Do you think one individual can make a difference and influence a community?

How can rumors create conflict?

What are alternatives to violence and war?

Why do you think the Mukies were able to live without conflicts?

One of the characters in the book expressed the beliefs and hopes of St. Francis of Assisi in his prayer:

I have to admit I don’t always listen very well. Sometimes others are telling me their story and I’m thinking of what I will say in response and not always tuning in completely. I remember when the children were little, one of their comments was “Mommy, you’re not listening with your eyes”.

Listening is a skill that can be developed. In order to hear what the other person is really saying take time to listen  – to be willing to give of your time and attention. You can show you are listening by nodding, smiling, making eye contact, or showing other ways of paying attention. Asking questions helps to clarify points. The art of communication has not died. It is a two-way street though- someone needs to talk and someone to listen intently.