Care

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day and an awesome week coming to a close for you. So, it is a little after 10:30 p.m. on Thursday night and I feel compelled to write my "Happy Friday" now. Go figure! Well, it is Friday somewhere AND, all of those in the Eastern time zone who complain that I get "Happy Friday" out late each week will be happy!

I want to share a few excerpts/quotes with you:

• "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." - John C. Maxwell
• "People don't care who you are or what you do; they care that you care about them." - Tony Dungy
• Paraphrasing (because I can't find the book right now!!) what Gary Vaynerchuk said in his book "CRUSH IT!"; the greatest sales secret of all time - care. This is the entire chapter. Gary encourages the reader to contact him if they have any questions.
• A few excerpts from the book "Customer Astonishment: 10 Secrets to World-Class Customer Care" by Darby Checketts (A GREAT book by the way!):
• "As we each pursue our goals, we often focus on trying to figure out what we must DO to be successful. The more important quest may be to identify who we must BE to attract the success we desire."
• "Instead of focusing right away on your handy to-Do list, discover the power of identifying what you need to BE. Then, you will recognize what you truly must do to make a lasting difference and a more genuine contribution to those you intend to astonish."
• "In the customer care business, people who are INTERESTED in others study them in advance, learn about them, and take good notes when listening to them. They become world-class interviewers so that they can get beyond the symptoms of the customer's problems to the root causes - to connect stated wants with the underlying needs customers have." 

Care...genuinely care about others. Put aside our wants, our desires, our thoughts, our ideas, etc., and focus on the wants, desires, thoughts and ideas of others. To not look at what we will get out of someone or from a situation but rather what we can do for someone or to make a situation better. It's funny isn't it? We would all love to have others care about us however when it comes to genuinely caring about others we sometimes find this difficult. Please be mindful that the true intention of the heart is found in moments of adversity. It is easy to say we care...it's an entirely different matter to live out the care we profess to have in our hearts. 

Who in your life desperately wants you to care about them? To see them for who they are - with all of their faults, failures, brokenness, greatness, potential and ability - and who they can become, not for what they can do for you? Who do you really care about - who you have meant to call, email, text, etc. - however you have just not stopped long enough to take the time to tell them? We ALL have faults, failures, brokenness, greatness, potential and ability...every last one of us! And, we ALL desperately want others to care about our worries, our fears, our hopes, our dreams and our problems...yes, every last one of us! So why don't we - you and I - just be really wild and crazy on this Friday and really be people who care? Why don't we force ourselves, just for a second, to care about our spouses, children, friends, co-workers, etc.? Look into their eyes, feel the weight of their worry, fear, hope, dream or problem. When you genuinely care, they will feel it...they will know.

A couple of other quick thoughts and I will wrap this up (started spunky...getting tired!):

1. I often hear others say things like, "My kids issues aren't near as big as mine" or "There is no way my wife could ever feel the pressure I feel". The truth is others' worries, fears, hopes, dreams and problems are every bit as big to them as yours and mine are to us. We don't see it that way because, well, ours are personal to us. Please Friends, let's slow down and be mindful that the same things we feel, others do as well.
2. Care...can you believe I actually looked this up in the dictionary and was going to give you the definition? Seriously? Have we really gotten to a point in society where I would actually need to provide the definition of care so we could then all care about others? I seriously hope not! Here are a few quick things that come to mind to share; if someone is crying, comfort them. If someone is scared, assure them. If someone looks sad, smile at them. If someone looks like they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, offer to help them carry it. If someone has fallen, help and encourage them get back up and keep going. When someone needs you, be there...fully present.

Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please, take just a moment today to truly care about others whose lives you are blessed to cross paths with today.

Kev