I enjoy being around people who are relaxed and fun to be with. Don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

But similar to the axiom that to have friends you need to be a friend, to be welcome among fun people one needs to be a fun person.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the rub for me. Sometimes I\u2019m a fun person who\u2019s relaxed and genuinely interested in the lives of my friends. But too much of the time I\u2019m not. The difference in my attitude, I\u2019ve noticed, is based on my attention on and awareness of one thing.<\/p>\n

The clock.<\/p>\n

When my attention is on how much I have to get done or where I have to be with a deadline as my focus then I have little room left for attention anywhere else. That means my ability to center my thoughts on another\u2019s needs or to relax in the moment all but evaporates.<\/p>\n

The struggle comes in realizing that one can learn to be efficient with things but not with people. Not if one wants to have effective relationships with them. No one I know wants to know they\u2019re being time-managed. Do you? Very few people have the skills to manage people within the constraints of the clock and not leave them feeling managed. When we\u2019re with our friends or other significant relationships, don\u2019t we want to know that they\u2019re truly \u201cwith\u201d us to?<\/p>\n

Are you fun to be with? How are you managing your time and relationships with the people you care for?<\/p>\n

Charles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I enjoy being around people who are relaxed and fun to be with. Don\u2019t you? But similar to the axiom that to have friends you need to be a friend, to be welcome among fun people one needs to be a fun person. That\u2019s the rub for me. Sometimes I\u2019m a fun person who\u2019s relaxed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,13,17],"tags":[36,102,129],"class_list":{"0":"post-304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-attitude","7":"category-listening","8":"category-relationships","9":"tag-attitude","10":"tag-listening","11":"tag-relationships","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n