There are times in life, where you need to evaluate those that are taking up space. Often it is evident that we place so much more emphasis on certain people than they put on your presence in their life. It is often said that a good friend is someone that you can go months or years without speaking to them and the connection never goes away. I have never truly believed that. If someone cares about you, they will make the time to stay connected to you, often. If you are simply someone that doesn’t matter that much, it is easy for you to slip their mind. If someone can allow schedules, family, other friends to keep them from calling, texting or appreciating you as a person. You are really not that important to their life. In my life, there are business relationships with people where you communicate from time to time and form some type of exchange relationship. In that exchange relationship, you give and they take or they give and you take. That is what I believe these relationships that can go many months without some form of connection really are. There are those relationships that are pivotal relationships, those are important focal point relationships. As Rick Warren said on a recent Oprah Life Class, “the greatest expression of love is time and the greatest time to love is now.” When we place our time on things and people that are truly important to us, we are expressing that greatest use of our time, to love those around us. In pivotal relationships, we are wired into the people, place and things around us that are important to us and are worthy of our time. Thus, we keep connected. During pivotal relationships, there is no room for prideful behaviors. We must keep abreast of the feelings of those around us that are in need and be available with the greatest gift from us, our time.
Business relationships must never be confused with pivotal relationships. If there is ever a question, ask yourself, when was the last time you had a genuine conversation where the other person did nothing but listen to you talk. If that answer is never, than you are in a business relationship. In a pivotal relationship, you can talk about your day and have folks that truly care enough to listen to your problems, joy and doubt. They will uplift you and provide support. During a business transaction, the point is to get in and get out. There is no connection other than give and take. They don’t care about anything but the bottom line, their time and what they have to gain. Please take note of the very real difference.
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