August 4. “Be open, obvious, and a sincere listener. Denial is not just a river in Egypt; denial is ignoring the obvious.” (D. Stephen Covey)

Saturday’s quote was about the need to recognize my faults and problems in order to solve them. In the course of writing about them I referred to blind spots, and how some of those are caused because I ignore what I am seeing. Today Covey refers to the notion that denial is ignoring the obvious. In my mind, these two quotes, and the reflections that I have with them, are telling me that there is something I am not seeing n my life. There is something about how I am doing things at home or at work which is a problem, and I am just not seeing it yet.

I find this a bit frustrating. As I am sitting here and thinking I am wondering whether I have an over-active mind because of the quotes, or is there really something that I am ignoring, or glossing over that is the source of this concern.

Today is Monday, the start of a new work week. It will be a busy week, made more so by the fact that next week I will be camping. I need to make sure things are buttoned up at work during the day, and prepare for the trip in the evenings. But none of that busy-ness will be an excuse to not examine myself as I go.

At the beginning of this quote, Covey reminds me to be open, obvious and a sincere listener. Today I am going to focus on that. As I set up this week, and progress through the days, my focus will be on that transparency. And, I will focus the sincere listening not just on what people are saying to me, but also on what I am saying as well. Perhaps with this fearless, honest look at myself I can answer the question of whether I do, indeed, have a blind spot to something which needs some work.