How do you want to be remembered?
We are all “busy”
“Hey man, I haven’t seen you at the gym lately. Where have you been?”
“Well, I have just been really BUSY.”
“Good Monday morning, George. How was your weekend?”
“Man, it went by so fast. We were just so BUSY.”
“Hey Sarah, how are the kids?”
“wow, with soccer, dance and piano, we are just so BUSY.”
Common
The answer of “I’m too busy” or some variation to that has got to be one of the most common answers given to almost any question.
- Getting your finances in order
- visiting family
- attending church
- reading the pile of books on your nightstand
- going to the gym
- celebrating special occasions with your spouse
- missing games, recitals or plays of your kids/grandkids
When you are talking to anyone and you use the word busy, their minds interpret that as “This person is too busy for ME.”
No matter what you say to them, express how important they are to you etc… when you tell someone just how busy you are, individuals receiving those words assume that you are really too busy for them.
Even if that is not true, even if you would gladly stop what you are doing for that person, the assumption is still there.
Impact is rare
Imagine if someone said to you “Hey Lee, I know you are really busy, but….”
Then, imagine I stopped them and said, “John, we always have tasks to complete. But truthfully, I am not that busy. I am certainly not too busy for you. How can I help you?”
I have started saying this to people when they start a conversation with “I know you are busy”.
I have found people to be stunned. Shocked. Speechless.
It is uncommon to “admit” that you are not that busy. It goes against our society that values commotion, values mindless activity. Motion do not always equal progress.
What would it take?
What if you took a genuine, honest evaluation of your daily activities and discovered that you were stirring up dust but you are not truly making any kind of impact.
What if you took 20 minutes each morning and wrote a note of encouragement to 1 or 2 people, what kind of impact would that make?
What if you baked a pie and just delivered it to your neighbor instead of watching TV?
What if you called your siblings and just talked and asked them about their lives?
What if you visited a widow that you know and just sat and listened to her talk so sweetly about her late husband?
What if you picked up trash along your road?
Any of these “What if’s” would be IMPACTFUL and well worth your time. But unfortunately, too many people are just too busy.
