A few years ago, I had sent an email to a friend of mine, called up and left a voicemail, which contained a request to chat.  If everything worked out well, I had an offer for him to invest in or join up forces with a start-up. The guy never responded.  He ignored my attempts to reach him. Much later he did send a text message, which said he was busy, and he would call…which he never did. That start-up firm scaled up well and got sold many times its EBITDA a couple years later. My friend regretted so much for not being responsive to my efforts to connect with him. But, the reason: He was ‘busy and focused’, doing well and doing very well in his career, and thought I was calling him to ask or a favor. So, he ignored my attempts to reach him and was, perhaps, even discourteous.

My effort was clearly intended to involve him in an opportunity to create wealth and clearly I was thinking about the potential for making life more enchanting. We all reach out to our friends, acquaintances, and contacts for various things, such as a coffee chat to catch-up, knowledge about job opportunities, projects, and introductions. Contacting friends can entail needing help and offering to help! But, we find people, to some degree of surprise, unresponsive most of the time, thereby causing me to wonder if these people were ever open to life!

Self-imposed Limitedness?
I suppose, many of us live with ‘self-imposed limits’; that is, life limited to working, paying bills and well, just caring for our immediate families. Thus, nothing beyond these areas of focus and nothing else matters. Yes, we all should focus on and defend our priorities. This is prudent and important. But, on the other hand, ignoring other opportunities is shrinking from within as we measure life through this closed framework of ‘limited-ness’ and can actually be a self-centered and perhaps, a selfish outlook. We never treat anything beyond these priority areas as worth our time. We hold a ‘why bother’ attitude, and even at the extreme, we are convinced and believe we’re clever to stay away from those “aliens”!

Closed as we are with this career orientation of being busy, focused, professional, etc. – WE OFTEN SUFFER FROM POVERTY OF PURPOSE FOR LIFE! 
We actually lack “inclusiveness and being open to life!”

We must remember, life is an exploratory journey, which is inclusive of all the people and situations, to make ourselves available for compassionate listening, sharing and giving. And, we must realize that networking isn’t only for people in transition. So, despite our busy lives, we should stay open to contacts and calls outside of our daily routines. We should be curious about learning and enjoying by meeting people who may be catalysts in our own business or career today or someday in the future. We all can gain through this more open approach in a somewhat structured way by:

Meeting new people: Being open to meeting and exchanging ideas – a quick chat in person or over the phone!

Considering new possibilities and horizons: Being enthusiastic about peoples’ endeavors – finding a new purpose for life!

Listening to interesting life stories: Learning about the life experiences of others – broadening your perspectives!

Sharing what you can afford: Sharing knowledge, articles, useful research, contacts, direction, etc. – being a giving person in your own way!

Standing up for a cause: Being a catalyst for a much-wanted change – supporting the righteous!

Mentoring and Advising: Sharing job references, career or business advice, etc. – making a small difference in their lives!

Try new stuff: Staying open to trying new things, even if these activities look crazy – exploring your life as a journey!

THINK OF OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT and SERVE, WHICH ARE ACTUALLY FAVORS YOU GET TO MAKE YOUR LIFE MORE ENCHANTING!

DO THIS AS YOUR GOOD KARMA, WITH NO EXPECTATIONS.
DON’T IGNORE … MAKE THE TIME … PARTICIPATE.
WITNESS YOUR ACTIONS! WITNESS YOUR OWN LIFE!

STAY OPEN TO LIFE!
These occasions can occur frequently. As such, I am unable to list all of them as part of this blog. But obviously, I wanted to reflect on and point the perils of getting dehumanized along the way. Well, appreciate your thoughts.