I'm a happy hooker.

Yes, that's right...that's what I just said.
I am a happy hooker.

Ok, so now let me explain.

I always thought I was a good listener. Yes I like to talk, but I also like to listen. I want people to feel comfortable enough to come to me and talk about anything.

In seminar this week, we talked about active listening. There are four things people do that are not considered active listening including what is called "happy hooking." This means that when someone is telling you something, the person who is supposed to be listening takes something the other person says and hooks it to something they say.

For example:
person 1: "That movie was so awful!"
person 2: "That sucks. I saw this movie last week which was so bad too!"

Ok so not really a great example, but you get the point. But this is happy hooking. Unfortunately, I have realized that i'm guilty of that. Far to often too. Therefore, I am a happy hooker. This needs to change. I need to change that. So that's my goal for this coming up year - I don't want to be a happy hooker anymore.