Hearing and Listening...are they the same?

I have been talking with a friend of mine about hearing a listening and whether or not they are the same.  I say that they are not.  If you have ever been married you would agree.  I guess if you have kids you would agree as well.  When it comes to my weight loss and the process by which I have to keep my mind, body and soul in check to continue down that road, it takes me to listen to do so.  I find myself, even today, hearing but not listening.  I lost 1.2 pounds at my weigh-in today and I was disappointed at first.  How many times have I said to others that as long as that scale is  moving down it is a good thing.  But then I get on the scale and since it does not reflect the 2.4 that my scale did this morning I am disappointed.  I am in no way listening to myself at all.  I can encourage others all day long and truly mean it when saying it to them, but don't listen to myself.  I hear what the leader at our meetings say, but am I listening?  I even hear my body telling me that it feels better, but am I listening?  Think about this.  Not just in weight loss but in many aspects of life.  Are you listening or just hearing.  Chances are you are just hearing.  Today I have stopped and listened to the silence around me and allowed myself to listen and try to take in what my body and those around me are saying.  Yes, I feel better.  Yes, I have done a wonderful job eating better and getting 13.2 pounds of fat off my body that otherwise would still be riding around on my knees.  Yes, I am doing the right thing in changing my way of eating for life because without it I don't know how many years I will be given.  Yes, my husband is benefiting from our changed eating habits.  And most of all, yes, my friends are right that I don't ever need to be down on myself if the numbers on a piece of metal don't relfect a number that I think it should.  I will do my best to always listen instead of simply hearing no matter how hard that task is.  And I pray that my friends and family have patience with me as I try to retrain my brain to do so.