Historically I've always been someone irked by people who are late and have worked very hard to be on time or early both in business and in my personal life. Lately though, I notice that when it comes to many things I'm no longer exhibiting this behavior. I actually excused this trend as a positive. A mellowing of sorts from my legendary uptight nature now that I have landed here in mid-life. Today I read a post from Seth Godin that really struck me as he cleverly compared the difference in meeting a train vs. making a train. They sound so similar its easy to think they are one and the same but, BAM, they are not! I now really believe my relaxed commitment to things is showing and impacting my work and personal life and I thank Seth for kicking me with his terrific post.
Please feel free to share this as it would apply to church groups, service groups, corporate America and your family.
Meeting vs. Making
As I was scurrying to meet someone coming in on the 11 am train, I realized that there's a huge difference between meeting a train and making one.
If you're rushing to make a train, you have to be there before the last moment. Five seconds too late is too late. The cost of error is absolute.
If you're hurrying to meet a train, though, there's a soft deadline. Five seconds is no big deal. Thirty seconds might be annoying, particularly for someone returning from a long journey. And five minutes is really rude.
Too often, we treat our obligations as meet, not make. We impose a sliding scale, a soft penalty, and we not only show up just a bit late, we show up a bit behind on quality or preparation.
Making is a discipline. Meeting opens the door for excuses.
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