How many times have you heard this and got really frustrated? i know i have. I mean, it is understandable to miss a call from your loved one, parent or a close friend when your in the middle of something important. But what really frustrates is when you don't get back to them for the whole day.
I have observed recently that we are so caught up in trying to produce the best results in whatever work we are attending to, that we tend to forget that there is a life outside work. As much as i would really appreciate people who put their heart and soul in order to be the best in what they do, but that doesn't mean you have to completely forget what you have.
Our professional lives are important, it is a part of who we are and what we are capable of. It nourishes us, pays out bills. (And mind you, when i mention professional lives, i'm including full time students too. Because they are also "working" only without a pay). But that doesn't mean that our work should come at the expense of our loved ones.
What made me write this article is that we are so caught up in chasing after what we want, we forget that we are slowly loosing what we have.
A son would say his mother that he was busy and that he couldn't call her for almost a week. A wife would say to her husband that she was at the office busy and that she couldn't return his call. A student would say to his or her friend that he couldn't reply to the message because he/she was so busy.
Now you would have observed that i had mentioned the word "busy" quite a few times in their last paragraph. The word "busy" seems so unrealistic to me. "Busy" means that you have engaged yourself with some piece of work. But can you really be busy throughout the day? 24 hours ? and all throughout the week?. IF it were possible I really would like to meet a person like that. The human brain has a maximum attention span, and i don't think it can work efficiently for more than a certain period of time, (depending on the person). It clearly cannot be for 24 hours.
Most of the people give this as an excuse. That they were "busy" and that they could not attend to their loved ones. But i don't believe in such excuses. Because you clearly were not busy. You surely did have personal time. You had time to eat, sleep, drink, watch t.v and go on Facebook. It is not that i don't respect people's time that they allocate for work, but i think it is unacceptable to ignore your loved ones for work. How is it that you don't forget to watch t.v, Facebook or eat and sleep but you forget to get back to your friends and family. Think of the number of marriage break ups, friendship break ups, children suffering from parental care and vice versa. Most of these have one common factor. Ignorance. It is such a pain to bear, being ignored is worst than getting shot at point blank. Imagine a son ignoring his mother, a girl ignoring her significant other, a friend ignoring his/her friend all because of work.
I mean, do you honestly not find five minutes from you day to send a message or call them, reminding that you do care about them? i really don't think that five minutes is a huge bargain of your time and you are not going to lose anything to spend it for your loved ones. We need to remember that we go to work and come back home.
Even in my personal experience i have friends who take ages to reply to my messages or phone calls or sometime they even don't. I on the other hand make time for my loved ones. No matter what time of the day it is, and whatever work i'm attending to, i get back to them. I have set this as a priority in my life. ( You can ask my friends if you want to clarify)
I know what ignorance and loneliness feels like, and the pain associated with it. That person whom called you or messaged you, did that for a reason, he or she needed you at that time. Maybe they needed advice on something, they wanted to share something with you or simply they just needed to be heard. Listen to them. Hear what they said, that could be the only way to ease their pain, by just listening.
And please if you get a message, reply and if you missed a call, call them back! because you would want the same happening to you, if you were in such a situation..
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