Picking up the phone

One of the things that I have realized about myself over the years is that I almost always need to have a reason or purpose for doing something.  The good thing is, if you can convince me that there is a good reason to do something, I'm likely to be swayed.  It also helps keep me focused on what needs to be done, and gives purpose to the things I do.

However, this need for purpose can sometimes keep me from doing some things that would be great to do.  For example, one area of my life where I struggle is simply calling people to see how they are.  I often fail to pick up the phone and call someone because it seems so trite to just say, I was thinking about you and wondering how you are.  I feel that I have to have a reason to call, whether to set up a time to visit together, or to see about something getting done.  Simply picking up the phone to be in touch with someone seems, well, purposeless.

But I have started to change my way of thinking about this.  Over the past few months, I've actually tried simply calling people just to see how they were doing, or just to talk to them for a few minutes.  And in the process, I've come to realize that this, also, has a purpose.  Building up relationships and developing connections with people is always good.  And discovering this has led to a change in my way of thinking about picking up the phone.

I will probably never be the best at simply calling up someone to shoot the breeze.  I'll probably always feel that I need to have a purpose to make that call.  But, as I think about being a person who builds up the community, suddenly picking up the phone is something that has meaning and purpose.  And I really hope that it leads to me doing this more and more in the future.  So don't be surprised if one day I suddenly give you a call, and have nothing more in mind than just saying "Hi!"