“Don’t wait for eventualities to happen before you discern the value of people.” - Terry Mante
WHILE working in my office one
afternoon, my cell phone buzzed. When I checked I realized it was a call from a
friend of mine. Knowing my friend quite well, it was going to be a long call.
Due to the urgency of the work I was engrossed in, I decided not to respond to
the call at that time. Instead, I made a mental note to return the call when I
got less busy.
Somehow,
I couldn’t get around to call my friend back that very day. My work took a
better part of me. Thoughts of returning the call slipped in and out of my mind
few days after that. It so happened that anytime I got a prompt to call my
friend, I would find an excuse to say, “Oh I need to call Aku (name changed); I'll call her tomorrow morning.” Or “I’ll call her when I get home.” Postponement
upon postponement, I never made that call until it became too late.
Less
than a month after her call, I got an unusual late night call from a mutual
friend of ours. That call kept me awake much of the night. He broke the news. Aku
had been dead for about two weeks and she had been buried! Unbelievable! This
spun my head.
This
was someone who relied on me for counselling and encouragement. Although we
were friends, I was also her counselor. When she called, was she seeking my
encouragement? Was she going to ask me to pray with her? Could I have saved
her? Could I have motivated her to stay alive? The more I probed, the more
guilt I felt.
I
am still learning my lessons from this experience. The immediate lesson is that
I must consciously make time for the people in my life and those who require my
services. I may not be able to meet everybody’s need but I can offer some
service to those who are in my immediate circle.
If
my friend had not passed on, I wouldn’t have known how desperately I may have
been needed. Don’t wait for eventualities to happen before you discern the
value of people. People are valuable. We must learn to show interest in the
affairs of the people we care about. We must stay faithful to those who invest
their time in our lives.
I
have also learnt that I must deliberately seek for ways to consistently stay in
touch with the people I call friends. If you are my friend, I must check on you
every now and then. What I have decided to do is come up with a schedule which
will ensure that each week, I’ll call at least three of my friends and one
person I look up to as a mentor. If I do this, within a quarter, I should be
able to touch base with all my friends.
In
a way, such regular interactions will even help me to know what is going on in
the lives of people. Hopefully, this will deepen my understanding of human
dynamics and eventually sharpen my axe.
Another
item that has risen to the front page of my heart and mind is to make people
the focus of what I do. Here, I am talking about the retail aspect of my work.
While it is good to write stuff for the newspapers and online portals, speak at
conferences and feature on radio, I must also do well to attend to people at
the personal level. I must make time to coach, counsel and comfort people who
need such services from me.
I
do the work I do is because I want to make an impact in people’s lives. If God
brings somebody my way, I must value that person and offer them the best I
have.
It’s
sad that I couldn’t say “bye bye” to Aku but her demise has taught me to value
every person in my life. I should arrange my life in such a manner that I will
not be too busy to make time for my people. RIP, Aku.
© 2014 by Terry Mante
CEO, Personal Development Network (PEDNET)
Accra, Ghana
Call for speaking appointment: +233.267.186.420
