Second Cup: Be generous with time

People are a good use of time

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to consider being generous with your time.
While boundaries are wise, people are generally a good use
of time, so be generous with time when you can.

(00:33):
There is a famous passage from First Corinthians that has
read at weddings about love. You probably remember how this
starts from the last wedding you went to, with the
statement that love is patient. I was pondering recently what
it means for love to be patient, and I realized
that fundamentally, patience means being generous with time. When love

(01:01):
is patient, it means we aren't rushing off to the
next thing.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
We are giving people enough time to be heard and seen.
This plays out in all sorts of ways. It can
mean chatting with a teenager even though it is bedtime
and you are tired. It can mean listening to your
spouse as worries even though you are annoyed about something

(01:28):
else here she did. It can mean taking time to
encourage a direct report, even in the middle of a
packed day. It can mean graciously listening to your elderly
neighbor tell that same story about her grandchild. Again. Time
is ultimately limited, and so this generosity is costly in

(01:51):
a way that being profligate with money is not. You
can make more money, you cannot make more time. And
so a lot of time management literature talks about saying
no more often, and perhaps there is something to that.
But when we can say yes to the people in

(02:12):
our lives, it strengthens those relationships in a way that
little else can. I fundamentally believe that people are a
good use of time, and the good news is that
a few minutes invested in generosity is often paid back
in profound ways. I love to get emails from listeners

(02:35):
and readers, and I respond to almost all of it.
As a result of spending just a few minutes on
those emails here and there, I have made some great
friends and professional acquaintances over the years because of those connections.
Talk about a huge payback. Many of us have had
the experience of encouraging a young person in our field.

(02:59):
That young person then goes on to become a total
rock star and a font of all sorts of opportunities. Again,
that is a big payback for what was probably not
a huge investment of time. Now, generosity doesn't need to
be a blank check, and I am sure that sometimes

(03:21):
generosity is abused. But even if being generous with time
sometimes feels like a waste of time, the truth is
that we waste time on all kinds of things. As
it is. I doubt that listening to a neighbor's story
is a much worse use of time than scrolling around

(03:41):
online for a few minutes. The former can spread some
serious joy. Love is patient and we all need more
love in the world. In the meantime, This is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

(04:03):
our time.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before
Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.
You can also shoot me an email.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
At Before Breakfast.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your

(04:52):
favorite shows,