TAKE TIME TO CONNECT

• August 17, 2021
• 379 views

This week I heard somebody asking, when did you last connect with your friends and family? Are you too busy building your business? Are you too busying with your life that you haven’t connected with your friends?

These questions challenged me so much that I took up my phone and wrote a WhatsApp message to a friend of mine. This is what I wrote: “Hi, my dear just checking out on you. How are you doing? We haven’t connected in a while now. Life is moving too fast. Life is too short. I’ll be coming by your way next week can we plan some time just you and me? I miss you”. Within 10 minutes of my text, my friend responded to my text, and this is what she wrote: “Hi sister, I would love to meet you”.

At the moment of writing to this friend, I didn’t know about her holiday plans, and I didn’t know whether she was going to be available. Thus, you cannot imagine how happy and terrific I felt as I look forward to our time together.  We will plan a getaway to do something we both love to do together. I can’t wait!

Hence, I have decided this week to challenge you and ask you; How busy are you building your new business or your Career? How busy are you building your new life? How busy are you doing whatever you are doing that you do not have time to connect with your friends?

Just as I was planning towards a recording, at around 2:00 pm, I received a call from one of my daughters from home in Kenya. She gave me the least expected shocking news. My closest friend is dead. Consequently, I have remained in shock since then. We have been friends since our college days. It took a while to accept the reality of the passing longtime friend. She died on Monday after two days of illness. She just took ill and was gone in two days. I am still going through shock. She was a single mother to two sons, and I am yet to reach them. Though I have called her mother. I’m still processing the information.

Hence, I have decided I’m going to challenge you today to take time instead of waiting for another day. It doesn’t matter how busy you are. As you may know, I come from a social family, the social culture back in Africa and even here in Europe though the situation is different I think I still practice my social culture. I have been reaching out to friends. I have many friends; I go out with friends. Although, the corona has taught us not to continue connecting physically for the reason of this social distancing. It is much easier now to stay in your room and write a WhatsApp message instead of a physical connection. Most times we are just busy with your own life.

Of course, life is demanding with all the uncertainties, there are enough things to keep us busy. Holding together our children who are going through stress adjusting to everything that is happening, it is so easy to forget to take time to connect with friends.  I listened to a Facebook live where they were talking about women 50 years and older, and how people are getting so lonely that they’re getting to a point of committing suicide. They were urging people to reach out.

So today I just want to say, “reach out”. I decided to still post this as a tribute to my friend and to urge you to reach out to your friend. Write down a list of your friends who haven’t gotten in touch with for a long time and send a word, send a message or make a call.

Don’t take time for granted. I’ve been thinking about this friend for some time now but didn’t get to call her. I guess that’s why I’m still in shock because in my mind I was thinking when I visit Kenya, I’m going to get a good time with her. She was in my mind this week and then I get to hear this sad news before I call. Please, life is too short for us to live a busy life building business.

Is your life just about building business? Ask anybody who is dying, and they will tell you what the most important and valuable things in life are.  In his last days, Steve Jobs confessed that the most important thing in life was family and friends. For me, it’s both family and friends.

Reach out to your friends that you haven’t connected with for a long time.  Reach out to your family that you haven’t connected for a long term. Life is too short.