Swedish-American biographer and poet Carl August Sandburg [1878-1967] is, among other things, famous for saying: "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
There is almost no productivity guru, life coach, and *whatsoever expert in *whateveryouwant that doesn't like to stress this point out, on any possible occasion.
Either you decide what you want to do with your time, or someone else will be glad to keep you busy in some ways they want you to spend your time on.
[What is time? Time is emotion, sure thing.
And it is also the most used good at stake
when we play with our and other people time
as if we would be playing with shiny dices]
Usually, it all starts with an innocent, short and sweet e-mail or message you sent out.
More often than not (1), to someone you didn't hear back for a while and that, probably, didn't reply to your previous message, a long time ago. (Or even just a couple of weeks ago, your mileage may vary here)
And here you are, more often than not (2), getting a reply that sounds more or less like:
"I am so glad to hear from you! I was thinking exactly about you, lately, and wondering about how you would be doing. Now I've got this message from you. This is just great!".
And here you are, more often than not (2), getting a reply that sounds more or less like:
"I am so glad to hear from you! I was thinking exactly about you, lately, and wondering about how you would be doing. Now I've got this message from you. This is just great!".
Nice, right? Even great, maybe?
Not for me. Here, I have to make a confession.
Every time that I get an answer like this to a message or an e-mail, my mileage may vary from being a little bit puzzled to somehow annoyed to finding the whole thing cringe-worthy. Because this is not great. To me, it is actually as far away from great as something far away from great can possibly go.
It is yet another way to say that yes, you were thinking about me, and no, you didn't care enough to do what I am doing on your behalf: Finding the necessary time to think about something and write a message, taking the time to care, dropping a line of any kind and reaching out, in order to keep the conversation going.
At the end of the day, it's all about connection.
Which value do you give your time?
Which value do people give your time, when they decide that the time spent in zig fancy activities is more valuable and they don't have any to dedicate to you, but they still enjoy getting some validation from you, when you reach out? Is this enough for you?
Tags: Time management, Keep the conversation going, Reaching out, Quotes
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From Gatsbying to going MIA, 8 examples of mirage friends' toxic behavior that you should avoid
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Where to start, if you are new
["Hello...? Still there...?"
Being the only one busy with keeping a conversation going
sucks. Period. Don't be that person. And let go of people that
expect you to be that person. Like, run for the hills like the wind.
Image credit: ISO Republic]
It is yet another way to say that yes, you were thinking about me, and no, you didn't care enough to do what I am doing on your behalf: Finding the necessary time to think about something and write a message, taking the time to care, dropping a line of any kind and reaching out, in order to keep the conversation going.
At the end of the day, it's all about connection.
James Sexton
Which value do you give your time?
Which value do people give your time, when they decide that the time spent in zig fancy activities is more valuable and they don't have any to dedicate to you, but they still enjoy getting some validation from you, when you reach out? Is this enough for you?
Tags: Time management, Keep the conversation going, Reaching out, Quotes
What to read next:
From Gatsbying to going MIA, 8 examples of mirage friends' toxic behavior that you should avoid
Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!
Where to start, if you are new