Friendly reminder…

The world is getting nosier and noisier by the tweet, snapchat, facebook post, and text. We are becoming connectors more comfortable digitally than face to face. This problem, cascading our way like a giant personal tsunami, is being missed by most but is very real, ever present, and it’s crushing our performance in thousands of little ways as it sweeps us out to the sea of mediocrity. We may be getting lots of likes but for many, we can’t seem to find a friend. We adults are so caught up in what’s going on with Trump, twitter, teammates, and any number of others, that we’ve little time left to think about the <strong>ONE </strong>person we need to really know.  We are hiding behind frequent texts and tweets with our friends but less and less telling them our trials and troubles. And, even less listening to theirs. We need to find a friend, don’t we?

Instead, many of us are feeling more alone.

Many of us don’t know our own thoughts, fears, dreams, disciplines, or desires.  We don’t know our tendencies that have us headed toward a break. We don’t know ourselves. And, we don’t know anybody with a strong enough BTL core to challenge us to challenge our thinking. Socrates was right – Know thyself, my friend. Today, practice something really old fashioned and out of style – practice being present, being with, and being comfortable by yourself. There is a world of difference between alone, a lone, and all one. Today, practice giving attention to one person at a time regardless of where you are and who you’re with. Do not allow the digital world to override your meaningful minutes with another. Invest some time with yourself and your thoughts. Write. Slow down. Reflect. Sure, it will be more depressing than delighting the first few times you discipline yourself to be alone with your thoughts. Practice being, anyway. 

Practice moving from alone, to a lone, to all one. Master the language of transformational leaders – the art of listening. The world is getting nosier and noisier. Take it offline. Be with. Talk. Practice being interested. Be a friend wherever you are. Practice being with and practice being human. Who knows, you just might find a friend.

Live hard. Love harder…