IMPORTANT PEOPLE NEED MORE IMPORTANCE

You know the important people in your life.

How? Because they’re important to you.

And you know why they’re important.

Maybe you even tell them they are the important people in your life.

But maybe you don’t, then what? They’ll tell you.

Has that ever happened? Someone tell you how important they are to you, and they’re not selling or pitching?

Yeah, me neither.

One of the best sales guys I know said, “Get the customer talking about themselves and they sell themselves on buying what you’re selling.”

Then what happens. We’ve heard of ‘buyer’s remorse.’ Does anyone get ‘seller’s remorse?’

Not after the check clears.

 

Important Enough?

Feeling important enough to make a difference in someone’s life is a big lift.

And a downer when you’ve got no influence.

Baby boomers are old enough to have experienced both; millennials aren’t far behind.

Tell a friend to get a prenup before they marry a loon and you lose their friendship.

This is where you need to ask yourself, and silently ask of others, ‘who made you the boss of giving advice?’

There you are, living your life of quiet desperation, wondering when the good stuff starts.

Overheard:

 

“I’ve got an apartment I can’t afford, a job that doesn’t pay enough, in a city I don’t like.”

“All you need to do is find a way to be proud of yourself and it all works out.”

 

What pops into your head when you read about a proud guy in his twenties explaining their wild success?

A cold shower at five in the morning?

Coffee and a protein drink?

Honing a killer edge?

What pops into my mind is a bunch of young guys bumping around in a crowded bar, hair product dialed up, telling each other about cold showers, protein drinks, and their killer edge.

Their twitter numbers show they have reach, engagement.

 

“I’ve got more followers than Jesus,” said no one.

 

Yet people flock to their words and repeat them.

Ready to start that cold shower routine?

If I took a cold shower first thing I’d have a cold water convulsion.

I do take a cold shower after a half-hour bake in a sauna set to 210 degrees.

Except it doesn’t feel cold for the first five minutes.

 

Be That Guy? No, The Other Guy

No matter what you do, what you grew up doing, and what you do now, there are comparisons.

I wasn’t a hobo in my twenties but I did criss-cross the country a few times. And I wasn’t the only one.

I had hitchhiking company, ride-share  company, Greyhound Bus company. I was traveling like a young guy with his ass in the wind.

Also traveling at time when Greyhound had a ‘$100 Anywhere’ ticket.

I was the one in the family who needed to calm down since marriage and age twenty went hand in hand.

 

I got married at thirty-one. It was important.

Do I give marriage advice? Sometimes.

One wife for thirty-seven years? How does he do it?

I don’t call it work like some people.

Millennials don’t need to hear about relationship work, but it is work-from-home.

One of the things we don’t do these days?

Instead, we say, “Let’s have dinner with the kids.”

Both parents on either side of us have made their last stand.

My mother in-law was the longest lived, which was nice. We liked each other.

I made her her last cup or tea.

 

40’s 50’s 60’s Important People

The older we get, the more important it gets to be important and solve problems.

We need to show we’ve paid attention to those we care about.

One way is to be overbearing on everything, coupled to an attitude of everyone is a fucking idiot except you.

Those people have what’s called ‘Me Time.’ A lot of ‘me time.’

These are their friends:

Important people don’t need to tell you how important they are.

Why? Because if they’re important, you’d already know.

The important people in my life include teachers since I’m a perpetual student.

So far they’ve taught me how to be a good husband, a decent dad, a dependable granddad, an on-time friend, a better guitar player.

To some I probably look like a big angry white man with Constitutional questions I answer with my pocket- constitution.

Since I’m not, I’m a traitor to my people?

No, you’re the traitor. If you don’t like people who don’t look like you, you’re the traitor.

You don’t like people who don’t share your beliefs? You’re the traitor.

 

When I’m watchin’ my TV
And a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
But, he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke
The same cigarettes as me

 

Next thing you’ll be saying is you can’t get no satisfaction.

You need to tune it up and listen to the something else.

Like the Sweet Sounds Or Heaven?

Important people do things important to them, and more importantly, they do things important to those they care about.

That’s you.

Is that you?

That could be you.