Some of my best friends in the entire world live off a dollar a day in South Africa.

In 2009 I met the Stallenberg family. Nicholas and Hannie, along with their children, graciously opened their home and I had the opportunity to spend a night with them.  My friend Garrett Gravesen challenged us to step outside of our comfort zones and live for 24 hours the way that more than 1 billion people around the world do– off of one dollar a day. And so I did.

This summer I had the opportunity to return to Cape Town just before the World Cup and reunite with the Stallenbergs. While I was catching up with Nicholas, a pastor in the community, he shared with me how his life and ministry were progressing. He told me his car was broken down and how every Sunday it is necessary for him to hitchhike 20 miles each way to church.  All of this effort, every single week, just to be able to do the work he believes in.

Listening to his story, I realized that everyone has a story if you are only willing to listen. I walked away that day wondering about all of the stories you and I miss out on every single day of our lives because we don’t pause and pay attention to other people.

WHY?

Very simply, we don’t take the time to listen.

Why is it so easy for me, halfway across the world in Africa, to enter the home of a stranger and listen to their story, while I am often unwilling and uninterested to stop, even briefly, in my hometown of Atlanta to hear what people have to say?

My mentor, Ike Reighard, shares that the greatest communication lesson he ever learned was while he was still in elementary school. Ike, as a school safety patrol person, had the job of helping fellow students safely cross the street. Ike’s responsibilities were summed up with a simple slogan: STOP, LOOK, LISTEN.

STOP: Learning to stop our agendas in order to discover what is taking place in the lives of others. In our multi-tasking, emailing, Tweeting, texting and calling world, we rarely stop to focus on someone else. Stopping is all about giving someone your minds attention.

LOOK: Buried in our BlackBerry’s and infatuated with our iPads, we often forget to look at people.  Look up and actually see them!

LISTEN: Listening is an art, and a learned one at that. A good listener gives their undivided attention. They know that listening takes more than ears. It requires your head and your heart, as well as your eyes. Most importantly, they understand that they have two ears and one mouth and choose to use them accordingly.

One of the things I always remind myself is, “You can’t help but love someone once you know their story.”

I challenge you today to STOP, LOOK, & LISTEN to the people you encounter. I promise you won’t regret it!