This past Saturday, I was binge watching movies on Netflix while folding laundry and decided to watch You’ve Got Mail. Most men dislike this movie because of how slow and slightly unrealistic the plot is, but hey that’s what kind of movie a lazy Saturday calls for, especially when you are doing something as exciting as laundry. Anyhow, there’s a scene towards the end of the movie where Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan are sitting in her apartment; she is sick and he has come to attend to her and apologize for basically shutting down her business. If you are unfamiliar with the plot, google it; or better yet, watch the movie; it’s worth it. However, the particular dialogue exchange that takes place here really caught my attention, and was actually quite refreshing.
Tom: “It wasn’t personal.”
Meg: “What is that suppose to mean? I’m so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn’t personal to you, but it was personal to me. It’s personal to a lot of people. And what is so wrong with being personal anyway?”
Tom: “Uh, nothing.”
Meg: “Because whatever else anything is, it ought to begin with being personal.”
In our culture today, we are taught and shown self first. We are taught that competition and getting ahead of the person beside you, by any means possible, is what it takes to get to the top. Materialism and consumerism is what fuels us, and having the latest and greatest is what is celebrated. We never slow down. We avoid getting personal.
If anyone understands these struggles; it’s me. My dad is an extremely successful businessman. I was looking at spreadsheets and balancing budgets before I had my driving permit. Busyness and waking up and getting “stuff” done was important. I became and still am today a task-driven person. I am not saying getting tasks completed and being driven is not good; I just believe that when that becomes your primary fuel and focus, it can become unhealthy and create imbalance in your life.
Challenging myself daily to slow down, celebrate the little things, learn how to live in the now instead of always in the future, and more importantly put PEOPLE over policy and task, is crucial. Whether it’s exchanging the typical “Hi, how are you? Good. How are you?” greeting with a simple, “How is your day going?” with the coffee counter worker and being willing to actually listen to their response or sending an encouraging text to a team member asking them if they need prayer for anything, taking steps towards being personal with people is what we are called to do. We are called to care, to listen and to love. It’s all about PEOPLE. “Because whatever else anything is, it ought to begin with being personal.”
